Gangs in Haiti kill 4 soldiers and 4 civilians in bid to seize full control of the capital

A man and his son traverse a road in the Kenscoff neighborhood, which has seen residents evacuating due to gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Apr. 21, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 24 April 2025
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Gangs in Haiti kill 4 soldiers and 4 civilians in bid to seize full control of the capital

  • Lionel Lazarre, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, told Radio Caraïbes that two soldiers and four civilians were killed in Kenscoff
  • In videos posted on social media, gunmen are seen mutilating several bodies

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Gangs trying to seize full control of Haiti have killed at least four soldiers and four armed civilians who worked with law enforcement to protect their communities, an official said Thursday.
Lionel Lazarre, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, told Radio Caraïbes that two soldiers and four civilians were killed in Kenscoff, a once peaceful community on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Two other soldiers and an undetermined number of civilians were killed in the community of Pacot inside the capital, he said.
On Wednesday night, the government said that at least four police officers and armed civilians from the community of Canapé-Vert, one of the few neighborhoods not controlled by gangs, were killed in the attacks.
In videos posted on social media, gunmen are seen mutilating several bodies and picking up severed heads as trophies, saying, “We got the dogs.”
Haiti’s transitional presidential council and the prime minister’s office condemned the attacks in separate statements and said that multiple people were injured.
“The government reaffirms that the fight against insecurity remains its top priority,” the office said.
Gangs that control at least 85 percent of Port-au-Prince have launched recent attacks on previously peaceful areas that police and armed residents are trying to protect.
More than 260 people were killed in attacks on Kenscoff and Carrefour earlier this year, according to the UN political mission in Haiti.
Haitian police are working alongside a UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police to repel gangs, although they have struggled in their efforts. The mission is underfunded and only has some 1,000 personnel out of the 2,500 envisioned.
More than 5,600 people were killed in Haiti last year, with gang violence leaving more than one million people homeless, according to the UN


Air India 777 aircraft turns back after drop in engine oil pressure, regulator says

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Air India 777 aircraft turns back after drop in engine oil pressure, regulator says

  • The aircraft, which was headed to Mumbai, landed safely back in ‌Delhi and ‌the incident will be investigated
  • Air India has been under intense scrutiny this year after the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people

BENGALURU: An Air India Boeing 777 aircraft had to turn back after a drop in oil pressure forced the pilots to turn off one of the jet’s engines, India’s aviation regulator said on Monday.
The aircraft, which was headed to India’s financial capital of Mumbai, landed safely back in ‌Delhi and ‌the incident will be investigated, the ‌Directorate ⁠General ​of ‌Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement. Modern aircraft are designed to safely fly and land on a single engine, if required. Air India has been under intense scrutiny this year after the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people. The DGCA has ⁠flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline, which was previously owned ‌by the government till 2022. An ‍Air India investigation into ‍why one of its planes conducted commercial flights ‍without an airworthiness permit found “systemic failures,” with the airline admitting it needed to do better on compliance, Reuters reported earlier this month.
On Monday, pilots observed a low ​engine oil pressure on the B777-300ER aircraft’s right-hand engine during flaps retraction after take-off. The pressure ⁠shortly thereafter dropped to zero and the crew shut down the engine and turned back as per procedure, the DGCA said.
“Air India sincerely regrets inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen situation. The aircraft is undergoing the necessary checks,” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement. The aircraft is 15 years old and has flown to locations such as Vienna, Vancouver and Chicago, according to Flightradar24. Boeing did not immediately respond ‌to a request for comment on the incident.