(Reuters) -The United Nations Secretary-General condemned on Saturday the reported killing of at least 40 people during an attack by armed gangs in a fishing village north of Haiti’s capital.
Local media in Haiti widely reported that the attack took place on Thursday night in Labodrie, another sign of escalating gang violence that has spread outside the capital.
“The Secretary-General is alarmed by the levels of violence rocking Haiti and urges the Haitian authorities to ensure that perpetrators of these and all other human rights abuses and violations are brought to justice,” the United Nations said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the National Police declined to comment on the alleged killings.
Local media in Haiti reported that gangs set Labodrie on fire after the killing of a local gang leader who goes by the name Vladimir. He was a member of a gang alliance known as Viv Ansanm that the U.S. declared a terrorist organization in May.
The U.S. State Department said the Viv Ansanm alliance is among the primary causes of instability and violence in Haiti. Its members have taken control of large swaths of the capital Port-au-Prince and spread to surrounding areas.
(Reporting by Emily Green and Harold Isaac; Editing by David Gregorio)
