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Four Killed As U.N. Troops, Haitians Fight
 U.N. peacekeepers and gang members traded gunfire Tuesday in the volatile Cite Soleil slum of the Haitian capital, leaving at least four people dead, witnesses and a U.N. official said. The deaths were the latest casualties from sporadic clashes between gangs and U.N. troops, who were called to the country following the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The bodies of two young men were displayed by gang members in the slum. U.N. military spokesman Col. El Ouafi Boulbars said the bodies of two other suspected gang members were turned over to police.Gang members say at least a dozen people have died in the area over the past week. U.N. military spokesman Col. El Ouafi Boulbars said it was not possible to provide an exact death toll, but confirmed that several suspected gang members had been killed in recent clashes. Boulbars said peacekeepers arrested 29 suspected gang members during Tuesday's raid. Over the weekend, peacekeepers killed one suspect during a series of sweeps to root out well-armed gangs in several areas of the capital, a U.N. statement said. Peacekeepers also made nine arrests and seized an unspecified number of weapons and stolen vehicles. Gang leader William Batiste accused U.N. peacekeepers of firing without provocation and of wounding unarmed civilians in the crossfire. "They shoot at us every single day," Batiste said. "It's persecution." Posted by: Fred 2005-11-16 |
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