Haiti: Port-au-Prince Vigilantes Roam, Hunt Gang Members as Talks Forming Transitional Council Stall

Despite the developments in forming a transitional council, the violence in Haiti rages on, with vigilantes forced to fight gangs.

In response to the violence, several communities took the matters into their own hands due to the lack of manpower in Haiti's police force.

CNN reported that vigilantes are blocking off their neighborhoods with felled trees and chains, killing and burning outsiders suspected of gang membership, saying that it was the only way to defend themselves.

One particular village where vigilantes are fighting back is in the neighborhood of Petion-Ville, south of Port-au-Prince. According to a Reuters reporter at the scene, at least two suspected gang members were killed and set on fire. One of those killed was a gang leader named Makandal, whose family home was also raided and burned.

Local media further cited police reports saying that the local population had been involved in a shootout in Petion-Ville.

Almost a year ago, a group of Port-au-Prince residents lynched and set fire to around a dozen men believed to be gang members, launching what became known as the Bwa Kale movement, a vigilante justice movement which rights groups say has sometimes been carried out with members of Haiti's police.

The newest complication to the already worse situation in Haiti came as political parties are still in the process of naming members for a proposed transitional council to restore law and order in the country.