UN troops target violent gangs in Haitian slum raid

February 13, 2007

Over 700 troops stormed a Haitian slum near the capital city of Port-au-Prince on Friday to oust a gang led by a man known only as Evans, blamed for many murders, kidnappings and rapes in the area. Heavy sustained gunfire was exchanged for several hours in the operation, which killed four gang members and wounded two U.N. peace keepers, U.N. officials said.

U.N. commander Maj. Gen. Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz said no one was arrested in the raid and no weapons were recovered, but U.N. spokesman told BBC News that the operation had taken away the Evans' gang's base in Cite Soleil.

The raid has been approved by Haitian President René Préval.

Over 8,000 UN force have been stationed in Haiti since 2004, to restore order following a coup against then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The area of Cité-Soleil is home to around 300,000 people and a neighborhood known as Boston was said to be in the control of Evan's gang.

The UN troops raided a school controlled by Evans' gang and their headquarters, called Jamaica Base. This was the largest of the several raids into gang's territory.