Haiti’s gang wars having ‘cataclysmic’ impact on access to food staples

About 22,000 people have been displaced amid murders, looting, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence, new UN report says

Haiti’s brutal gang wars have spread from the capital to key farming heartlands, displacing tens of thousands of people and having a devastating impact on access to food staples, the United Nations has warned.

Violence has gradually escalated in the Bas-Artibonite region north of the capital, the source of staples such as rice, according to a new report released on Tuesday, which said about 22,000 had been displaced amid murders, looting, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence.