The gang members, armed with automatic weapons, stormed into the small town of Pont-Sondé in central Haiti at around 3 a.m. on Thursday.

Then they started setting houses on fire.“As people rushed out of their houses, they were shot,” said Ravina Shamdasani, chief spokeswoman for the United Nations Human Rights Office.

When the violence ended, at least 70 people — including 10 women and three infants — were dead, while hundreds of others ran for their lives, the U.N. office said in a statement.

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOPM
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      3 months ago

      It’s a strange word choice that the media has coalesced around. Rebel groups or armed forces would imply that they are coordinated and ideological. Cartels would imply that they are selling something. Militias is probably the best.

      I think they were already called gangs before they grew to the point of controlling major territory and the media kept the name.

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Controlling territory doesn’t make them not a gang. There are rival gangs in Haiti too.

        • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOPM
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          3 months ago

          Fair enough.The term just fails to reflect the scale of the crisis for a lot of English speakers. They’ve so far overwhelmed the Kenyan/UN forces.

        • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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          3 months ago

          No one wants it

          Haiti and Canada are close as they are both Francophonie, we helped them in the past but people in our military couldn’t behave so we sat this one out

          We ensure the UN force was led by a majority black nation (Kenya this time)

          The use of gangs is odd but it’s not to colonize Haiti

          It’s likely because there are so many and their goals aren’t well known