UN peacekeepers exchange fire with gunmen in Haiti

[struggle4progress]

AP
Thursday, January 06, 2005

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Gunmen opened fire on Brazilian UN peacekeeping soldiers in Haiti yesterday, when the troops attempted to clear trash-filled streets in a gang-ruled slum, an official said.

Nobody was injured in the pre-dawn incident when 450 Brazilian soldiers rolled into the downtown St Martin neighbourhood of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Their mission was to clear out the charred remains of automobiles and heaps of trash that had barricaded the streets for months, said Lieutenant Colonel Luciano Puchalski, a Brazilian battalion commander.

Gunmen shot at the troops and the Brazilians returned fire, Puchalski said. Haitian police detained nine men seen on rooftops during the shootout, but no weapons were seized, officials said. <snip>

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050105T200000-0500_72675_OBS_UN_PEACEKEEPERS_EXCHANGE_FIRE_WITH_GUNMEN_IN_HAITI.asp

[Robbien]

1. Poor Haiti

With all the humanitarian attention going to tsunami areas, Haiti, the Sudan and all other troubled nations are being forgotten.