Haiti's Capital Gets Rough: US Staff Pull Out as Violence Surges

Things are getting real scary in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. This week, the place saw some serious action. A UN helicopter got hit by bullets while flying over the city. The US embassy also had its armored vehicles targeted by two notorious gangs, "400 Mawozo" and "Chen Mechan. " No one was hurt, but it was clear these gangs meant business. Because of all this trouble, the US embassy decided to play it safe. They’re planning to pull out about 20 staff members who aren’t in emergency roles. This will happen in the next few days. It’s not the first time they’ve had to do this, though. Gang violence has been on the rise for years, making it dangerous to travel around.

Even the UN isn’t safe. Their World Food Programme (WFP) helicopter got shot at, leaving it with bullet holes in its body and rotor system. Luckily, no one was hurt, and the helicopter landed safely. But this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Last July, a WFP helicopter got hit by a stray bullet while parked at the airport. All this violence is making it hard for aid to get around. Many roads are too dangerous to use because of gang attacks and roadblocks. It’s so bad that US airlines might stop flying into Port-au-Prince again. They did the same thing last March after a big spike in violence. Gang violence in Haiti has been getting worse and worse. Gangs control a lot of the capital, and the violence has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. The UN says over 3, 600 people have been killed since January this year. It’s gotten so bad that even babies aren’t safe. Earlier this month, a gang attack killed three infants among many others.

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