Haiti: UN peacekeepers kill four, arrest 33 in new anti-gang operation in capital

In their latest anti-gang operation in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, 200 United Nations peacekeepers waged an eight-hour gun battle yesterday with heavily armed men who attacked them when they were checking a barricade under construction, killing four of the assailants.

Thirty-three other gang members were apprehended and turned over to the Haitian authorities, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) reported.

There were no civilian or UN casualties in the battle which erupted in the Pele zone of the Cité Militaire area when the blue helmets came under attack by men firing heavy weapons.

The battle followed several UN search and security operations over the weekend in which one suspect was killed, two people wounded, nine others arrested, weapons seized and stolen vehicles recovered.

Two other UN posts came under attack yesterday but there were no casualties, according to MINUSTAH, which was set up by the Security Council last year to help to re-establish peace in the impoverished Caribbean country after an insurgency forced elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile in February 2004.