PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti– Two journalists were killed on Thursday after traveling to Laboule 12, a village southwest of here, where armed gangs are engaged in ongoing gun battles, their radio station has confirmed.
The journalists have been identified as Wilguens Louissaint and Amady John Wesley of Radio Écoute FM, a Canadian-based on online media house. The journalists are reported to have been burnt alive.
A third journalist, Wilmann Vil, who accompanied them, managed to escape with the help of the residents, according to media reports.
“We condemn with the utmost rigor this criminal and barbaric act,” said Ecoute FM general manager Francky Attis. The radio station said that the journalists were “savagely shot and burned alive by armed bandits,” describing the event as a “serious attack on the right to life.”
Radio Écoute FM has since suspended its broadcasts until further notice
The reports said that Laboule 12 had been the scene of intense fighting with rival gangs; most notably, Ti Makak” and “Toto” are fighting for control of the area.
It is considered the only alternative land route to reach the southern half of the country, as, since June, the main road has been by one of the most powerful gangs in Haiti.
The journalists were also reported to have been investigating the death of Inspector Dan Jerry Toussaint, who was shot dead in Fessard last week by members of the Ti Makak gang.
The latest attacks come as the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM country continues to grapple with acts of extreme violence and deteriorating security conditions as rival groups battle one another or the police for control of the streets.
In July last year, Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise was assassinated during an attack on his private residence, leaving a power vacuum that deepened the
and then 