‘Some people were injured, houses were burned down, but it is so hard right now to provide a real figure,’ said Pierre Esperance, head of the National Network in Defense of Human Rights, before noting that many people were forced to leave the area.

The events happened in Bel Air, an area too close to the National Palace and classed as the opposition stronghold.

The event occurred on Thursday was the third major attack in the community in less than two years by the gang led by ex-policeman Jimmy Chérizier, known as Barbecue.

In fact, Barbecue on Friday claimed responsibility for the attack in a press conference, and assured that it was in response to the actions committed against his group made up of nine gangs from Port-au-Prince.

In 2018, the ex-police officer was indicted –along with then Minister of the Interior Fednel Monchery- as main authors of a massacre in La Saline neighborhood, located in the vicinity of the General Assembly.

For Marie Yolene Gilles, from Je Klere Foundation, Thursday´s incidents were meant to break Bel Air resistance and deter residents from joining the anti-government protests.

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