Three Catholic clergies kidnapped in Haiti released
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is plagued by insecurity and natural disaster. Local terrorists have been on a rampage kidnapping persons including children.
Three members of the Catholic clergy who were kidnapped in Haiti earlier month have now been released, officials say.
A total of 10 people were abducted in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince, in mid-April, including the seven clergies — five of them Haitian, as well as two French citizens, a priest, and a nun.
The kidnappers had demanded $1m (£722,000) as a ransom payment after they seized the group on 11 April.
It is not known whether any ransom has been paid.
Kidnappings for ransom have surged in recent months in Port-au-Prince and other provinces, reflecting the growing influence of armed gangs in the Caribbean nation.
Haiti's government resigned, and a new prime minister is appointed in the wake of the clergy kidnappings, a move President Jovenel Moise said: "will make it possible to address the glaring problem of insecurity and continue discussions to reach the consensus necessary for the political and institutional stability of our country."
The attack happened when the Catholic clergy were on their way to installing a new parish priest.
Kidnappings have surged in Haiti, with the Catholic Church describing the situation as "a descent into hell".
A police source told AFP that a gang calling itself 400 Mazowo was most probably behind the abduction.
While at first well-off business people were the main targets, victims have come from all walks of life. Religious groups have not been spared.
On 1 April, armed men burst into service at an evangelical church on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and abducted the pastor and three other people. The service was being live-streamed on social media at the time.
The four were released three days later after an undisclosed sum of money was paid in ransom, but the brazenness of kidnapping a pastor in the middle of a service shocked many Haitians.
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