Haitian police destroy helicopter, kill 7 in gang shootout

PORT-AU-PRINCE Haiti AP Police in Haiti clashed with gangs Thursday night into Friday in an operation that killed seven gang members and led police to destroy a helicopter after a forced landing officers declared In an operation in the Croix des Bouquets area on the outskirts of capital Port-au-Prince a helicopter had a suspected malfunction and had to make an exigency landing according to a comment from Haitian National Police PNH published on Facebook The officers are safe but torched the helicopter so gangs could not recover it for their use the police revealed Earlier Friday social media videos revealed gang members celebrating next to the wreckage of the helicopter Seven gang members were killed according to PNH Spokesman Garry Desrosiers Police also recovered a Barrett semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle that was used in the shoot out which is a high ceiling weapon that is often used to terrorize the civilian population police stated The Croix des Bouquets area is controlled by the Viv Ansanm which means Living Together a powerful gang coalition that has been designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization Criminal groups have expanded their control in Haiti in fresh years and now control of the capital Gang violence has also displaced a record million people according to the U N International Organization for Migration The U N has backed a mission led by Kenyan police to combat gangs in Haiti but the mission has been mired with criticism including that it has been understaffed and underfunded Follow AP s Latin America coverage at https apnews com hub latin-america Source