PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 19, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Fourteen bodies were found in an
affluent suburb of Haiti's capital Monday, as international efforts
accelerated to fill a political vacuum created by weeks of gang violence that
has forced the impending departure of the prime minister.

Local residents told AFP they did not know the circumstances of the deaths
but said that the Laboule and Thomassin neighborhoods, in the suburb of
Petion-Ville, had been under attack by what they said were armed criminals
since dawn.

Witnesses said gang members attacked a bank, a gas station and homes in the
area. Gunfire continued to ring out in Petion-Ville in the afternoon.

"They came wearing balaclavas in their cars, on motorcycles, with their own
ambulance, then they massacred the population of Petion-Ville," said local
resident Vincent Jean Robert.

"I was on my motorcycle when they arrived and started shooting," a motorcycle
taxi driver named Cadet told AFP, while adding, "We don't know if it's
bandits or the police who were behind this."

He suspected that the victims were those who had been out late at night,
"searching for something to eat for their children."

Amid the violence Monday morning, a judge narrowly escaped an attack on his
home, a relative told AFP.

Haiti has been engulfed for three weeks in a gang uprising by well-armed
groups saying they want to topple Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Last week Henry agreed to step aside to allow the formation of an interim
government, following pressure from neighboring Caribbean countries,
including the CARICOM regional body, and the United States.

The situation remains dire even as Washington voiced hope Monday that a
transitional body to lead the country, set up at a crisis meeting a week ago,
could be ready "as soon as today" -- though as of that evening nothing had
been announced.

"I understand that Haitian stakeholders are very close to finalizing
membership and remain in active discussions with CARICOM leaders as it
relates to the makeup of the Transitional Presidential Council," State
Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington.

"The announcement of this council, we believe, will help pave the way for
free and fair elections and the deployment of the Multinational Security
Support Mission," he said, referring to a UN-backed, Kenyan-led force that
aims to bring stability to Haiti.

- 'Famine and malnutrition' -

The council, which will include seven voting and two observer members
representing a broad spectrum in Haiti and its diaspora, will be in charge of
naming an interim government before elections, which have not been held since
2016.

Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Haiti Monday, deputy US ambassador
Robert Wood had told journalists that a decision on the make-up of the
transitional council was "close."

After the closed-door session, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith
noted that talks "are progressing well," though she added "it's a difficult
process."

The Security Council meeting came as the United Nations announced that the
first helicopter flights had begun in an air bridge set up between Haiti and
neighboring Dominican Republic to deliver aid.

UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency, offered a bleak assessment of
the situation in the country over the weekend, saying Sunday it was "almost
like a scene out of 'Mad Max,'" and warning people were suffering "famine and
malnutrition" with aid groups unable to gain access.

That same day, a curfew was extended until Wednesday in the Ouest department,
which includes Port-au-Prince. A state of emergency is set to end April 3.

Several countries including the US and European Union member states have
evacuated diplomatic personnel from Haiti due to the crisis.

Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to organize Nairobi's security mission to
back up Haiti's overwhelmed police force.