Gang Violence Displaces Hundreds, Forces MSF Hospital Evacuation

A surge in gang violence over the weekend in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, displaced hundreds of residents and forced the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders to evacuate its hospital in the Cité Soleil neighborhood.

Clashes erupted Sunday between rival armed groups in Cité Soleil and nearby areas including Croix-des-Bouquets, prompting families to flee in the dark toward the road leading to Toussaint Louverture International Airport. Monique Verdieux, 56, watched gunmen burn houses in her neighborhood before escaping to the highway. "I am now sleeping in the street," she said, adding that her family had scattered and it was unsafe to return.

Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, suspended operations at its facility after more than 24 hours of heavy fighting trapped the hospital in the crossfire. Staff treated over 40 people for gunshot wounds in just 12 hours and sheltered around 800 residents seeking refuge. A security guard was struck by a stray bullet on the hospital grounds but was evacuated and is now stable. "It is unthinkable that our teams and civilians should become victims of these clashes," said Davina Hayles, MSF's head of mission in Haiti. The group also...