Haiti: 15 US Christian missionaries and family kidnapped

At least 15 American missionaries and family members have been kidnapped by a gang outside the Haitian capital, security sources said Sunday. 

The group of between 15 and 17 people, including children, was being held by an armed gang, one source told Agence France-Presse.

For months, the gang has been engaged in theft and kidnappings in the area between Port-au-Prince and the border with the Dominican Republic.

The New York Times cited Haitian security officials as saying that the group was pulled off a bus heading to the airport to drop off some members of the group before continuing to another destination in Haiti.

Church name not revealed

Initial reports did not give details on the missionaries or their church.

"This is a special prayer alert,'' said a voice message sent to other religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident.

"Pray that the gang members would come to repentance," the message from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries continued.

The message stated that the mission's field director is working with the US Embassy, and that the field director's family and one other unidentified man stayed at the ministry's base while everyone else visiting the orphanage was abducted.

Jennifer Viau, a spokeswoman for the US State Department in Washington, told Reuters by email that "we're looking into this."

The US Embassy in Haiti did not issue any statement regarding the incident.

Kidnappings spike amid Haiti lawlessness

A surge in gang violence has displaced thousands and hampered everyday life in the Americas' poorest country.

Violence spiraled after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July and an earthquake in August that killed over 2,000 people.

Armed gangs, which for years have controlled the poorest districts of the Haitian capital, have extended their hold to other parts of the city, sowing terror with kidnappings.

Gangs have demanded ransoms ranging from a few hundred dollars to more than $1 million, according to authorities.

Last month, a deacon was killed in front of a church and his wife kidnapped.

At least 328 kidnappings were reported to police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.

The latest abductions come just days after high-level US officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for the country's National Police, including another $15 million (€13 million) to help reduce gang violence.