PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 31, (AP): More than 1,740 people were reported killed or injured in Haiti from July to September, a nearly 30% increase over the previous trimester, according to the latest numbers released Wednesday by UN officials. The surge in violence comes as gangs seize control of 85% of the capital of Port-au-Prince - up from 80% - while a UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a UN peacekeeping mission.

"In the absence of state representatives, gangs increasingly claim roles typically assigned to the police and the judiciary while imposing their own rules,” warned the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH. The 1,223 killings reported in the third trimester are largely blamed on gang violence, although law enforcement officials carried out at least 106 extrajudicial killings, with victims including six children as young as 10 years old who were accused of passing information to gang members, BINUH said.

Of the 106 extrajudicial killings, 96 were carried out by police officers and 10 others by Jean Ernest Muscadin, public prosecutor for the southern coastal city of Miragoâne. Overall, Muscadin is accused of killing at least 36 people since 2022 who were suspected of being gang members or of committing "common crimes,” BINUH said.

A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not respond to requests for comment, while Muscadin declined comment and hung up when reached by phone. Gangs now have an estimated 5,500 members after recruiting mainly children who work as scouts, carry weapons and ammunition and even participate in combat, according to a UN Security Council report released Monday.

It noted that children may represent up to 50% of all gang members. "The dire situation in Haiti makes children more vulnerable to recruitment by gangs,” the report stated. "A lack of access to education, employment and basic necessities creates a situation where joining gangs is seen as the only viable means of survival.”