UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23, (AP): Gangs in Haiti have escalated their violence and expanded operations outside the capital, even attacking small boats and kidnapping personnel from cargo shipping companies, the top UN official in the country said Tuesday. Special representative Maria Isabel Salvador told the UN Security Council that the situation has worsened in the last three months, with more than 700,000 people now displaced in the country and the political process facing "significant challenges.”

She said Haitians across the country continue to suffer as gang activities escalate and expand, "spreading terror and fear, overwhelming the national security apparatus” and worsening an "extremely dire” humanitarian situation. Gangs are also attacking small boats carrying Haitians from the capital, Port-au-Prince, to other areas of the country, and they have kidnapped personnel from international cargo freight companies, forcing them to suspend service to Haiti, Salvador said.

Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, told the council the "catastrophic situation” for Haiti’s children that she reported six months ago has deteriorated further. She said over 360,000 of those currently displaced are children. "Armed groups are regularly committing grave rights violations against children including killing and maiming,” she said.

"And so far this year, we have seen a staggering increase in reported incidents of sexual violence against women and children, including gender-based violence.” Russell said gangs are also recruiting children and using them in their operations. "We estimate that children account for 30% to 50% of armed group members,” she said.

"They are being used as informants, cooks, and sex slaves, and they are being forced to perpetrate armed violence themselves.” The power of gangs in Haiti has grown since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and they are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.