Haiti US Guns Pour Into Port au prince Fuelling Surge In Violence

More than two weeks after the country's prime minister resigned, following a surge of violence in Port-au-Prince, details of a presidential transitional council have still not been revealed.

One of the obstacles this council will have to face is the illegal trafficking of guns, which has powered the gangs which have taken over.

The escalation in violence has sparked an exodus from the capital.

Among those leaving is 14-year-old David Charles whose father Israel is nervous with excitement as he waits for his son's bus to arrive in Cap-Haitien.

David has managed to escape Port-au-Prince - a city now torn apart by armed gangs and political chaos. Most of the violence gripping Haiti is centred in the capital: the UN estimates 80% of it is now controlled by gangs.

He had been living there for two years without his parents, in order to finish his education, but Israel did not want him "to become a victim".

This month's torrent of violence spurred him to get his son out to Cap-Haitian, a city in the north of the country which is safer.
  



BBC