Haitians struggle to find food, shelter amid new gang battle

By PIERRE-RICHARD LUXAMA and EVENS SANON
Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Heavy gunfire is echoing in a once quiet neighborhood in Haiti’s capital that has become ground zero in a gang fight that has killed at least 20 people, injured more than a dozen and forced thousands to flee their homes this week. Parents grabbed children by the hand Thursday as they balanced bags on their heads with the few belongings they could salvage after gang members ousted them from their homes. Authorities say the clashes that erupted Sunday in four districts in northern Port-au-Prince involve a gang known as Chen Mechan — which means Bad Dog in Haitian Creole  — and the 400 Mawozo gang, which kidnapped 17 U.S. missionaires last year.