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CV NEWS FEED // Haitian gangs attacked the city of Mirebalais last week and murdered two religious sisters among many others during the rampage.
Agenzia Fidez reported April 3 that the Viv Ansanm, a coalition of criminal gangs, attacked the central Haitian city March 31. Specific figures regarding civilian deaths beyond the two religious sisters have not been detailed in the available reports. However, the Haitian National Police reported killing 30 gang members in the ensuing clashes, according to the Haitian Times.
Sisters Evanette Onezaire and Jeanne Voltaire were members of the Little Sisters of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Both taught at a school in Mirebalais and were taking refuge in a house with other civilians when the armed gang members killed them and everyone else in the home.
As of April 3, the gangs also attacked the city’s hospital, Agenzia Fides reports. Government delegate Frédérique Occéan said that the streets are filled with decaying bodies.
Many citizens have been forced to flee their homes due to the attacks, the article adds. The armed gang also released approximately 500 prisoners from the local jail.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke to Port-au-Prince’s Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor, who told them April 2, “All the prisoners have escaped, and the city is controlled by bandits.”
Archbishop Mésidor stated that the local violence is also affecting the Church.
“Twenty-eight parishes in the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince are closed, while around 40 are operating at minimum levels because the neighborhoods are controlled by gangs,” he wrote. “The priests have been forced to flee, finding refuge with their families or with other clerics. They need help. The archdiocese is also in difficulty.”
He added later on, “Here in Haiti, our Lent has become a true Way of the Cross, but we offer it up in communion with the suffering of Christ. Haiti is burning and requires urgent help. Who will come to our aid?”
