24788: Craig (news) MINUSTAH and Haitian police kill 10 in Cite Soleil

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

MINUSTAH and Haitian police kill 10 in Cite Soleil
April 16, 2005
10 dead in Haiti clash


ABOUT 10 members of Haitian armed gangs were killed and nearly 20
others were wounded in violent clashes today with UN troops and
Haitian police.

The clashes took place in Cite Soleil, a sprawling slum suburb of the
Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, known as a stronghold of supporters
of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

"The incidents occurred during a joint operation undertaken by the UN
force together with Haitian police in order to restore security in
the neighbourhood," a UN officer said. "Our force was met in the
neighbourhood with gunfire."

Cite Soleil is home to about 350,000 people.

Two Haitian police officers were wounded during the operation, which
involved a Jordanian battalion deployed in the country as part of the
UN mission and about 60 Haitian police officers.

A UN soldier from the Philippines was shot in the head and killed in
Cite Soleil yesterday.

The Filipino was the third UN soldier killed over a one-month period,
after soldiers from Sri Lanka and Nepal were killed in March.

The UN stabilisation force was deployed to Haiti last year, after
Aristide fled amid an armed uprising.


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