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Calm returning to troubled district in Haitian capital, UN mission says

Calm returning to troubled district in Haitian capital, UN mission says

United Nations peacekeeping military and police cadres joined Haitian National Police units today in making a security sweep of the Bel Air neighbourhood of the Haitian capital and arresting three gang leaders, a UN spokesman said.

The personnel from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the police officers also sealed a logistical base that the three had used, Fred Eckhard said at the daily UN Headquarters briefing in New York.

According to MINUSTAH, calm was returning to Bel Air after it fell under gang control during the past weeks, Mr. Eckhard said.

Meanwhile, two trucks carrying supplies for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the town of Gonaïves were attacked and looted en route, he said.

"The UN system in Haiti has reminded non-governmental organizations that the peacekeepers can only ensure security for those trucks that join the World Food Programme (WFP) convoys that leave every other day from Port-au-Prince," he said.