Rival gangs sign truce in Haiti's largest shantytown

Two rival gang leaders signed a truce to end armed conflict in Haiti's largest shantytown, a community leader said Thursday.

Haiti has long been rocked by gang violence, but conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry.

The gangs control 80 percent of the Caribbean country's main roads and are accused of numerous murders, rapes, looting and kidnapping for ransom.

Under the agreement between leaders of the G9 and G-Pep groups, roadblocks in the Cite Soleil (Sun City) shantytown of around 300,000 inhabitants were taken down, said Pastor Jean Enock Joseph, an influential figure in the commune.

"A new stage has just been reached", the pastor told AFP.

However, he added that a similar truce had been signed in July 2023 before falling apart a few weeks later.

Like much of Port-au-Prince, Cite Soleil residents were unable to move freely in the shantytown -- divided into zones controlled by the rival gangs -- for fear of being caught in crossfire.

The G9 and G-Pep gangs have not clashed since February, when they joined a coalition fomenting coordinated attacks to overthrow Henry, but they had maintained the divisions within Cite Soleil until Wednesday.

Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, head of the G9 and one of the coalition's leaders, hailed the "courage" of Cite Soleil's gang leaders on Thursday.

Violence in Port-au-Prince has skyrocketed in recent months, sparking a serious humanitarian crisis.

Nearly 600,000 people are displaced in Haiti, according to the UN, a 60 percent increase since March.

Since the departure of Ariel Henry, transitional authorities have been set up to put the country back on its feet, with the support of a UN-backed multinational mission led by Kenya.

The task will be immense in a country ravaged by violence and corruption, and which has been without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moise in 2021.