Port-au-Prince: Over 180 people were killed in a brutal massacre in Haiti’s Cité Soleil neighborhood over the weekend, after a gang leader reportedly targeted elderly residents and Voodoo practitioners, blaming them for his child’s grave illness.
The incident, described as one of the deadliest gang-related attacks in Haiti’s history, has drawn global condemnation and highlighted the ongoing security crisis in the Caribbean nation.
A statement by the Haiti Prime Minister’s office accused gang leader Micanor “Mikanò” Altès and associates of carrying out the massacre on December 6 and 7, in impoverished Cité Soleil, in Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince.
“The massacre was triggered by the severe illness of his child. Micanor sought advice from a voodoo priest (‘bo?ko?’) who accused elderly people in the area of practicing witchcraft and harming the child,” RNDDH said in a report seen by CNN. Voodoo is widely practiced in parts of Haitian society.
“On Friday, December 6, Micanor shot and killed at least sixty (60) elderly individuals. On Saturday, December 7, he and his group killed at least fifty (50) more using machetes and knives. Despite his actions, his ill child passed away,” it said.
Citing sources in the area, Haiti’s Committee for Peace and Development (CPD) also said the attack targeted “all elderly people and Voodoo practitioners who, in (Micanor’s) imagination, would be capable of casting a bad spell on his son,” and left the bodies of victims mutilated in the streets.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an investigation into the massacre and urged member states to provide more support to the international mission in Haiti, as quoted by CNN.