Photo: Archive / VALERIE BAERISWYL / AFP / Getty Images
Some 17 United States Christian missionaries and their families, including children, were abducted Saturday by a gang in Port-au-Prince , the capital of Haiti , when were leaving an orphanage, according to reports by Haitian security officials, cited by The New York Times .
The details of the kidnapping are not known, but local authorities said that the Missionaries were kidnapped from a bus that was heading to the airport to drop off some members of the group. before continuing to another destination in Haiti.
The kidnapping of the American missionaries occurred just one day after the United Nations Security Council extended its mission in Haiti for nine months in a unanimous vote on Friday.
Many Haitians have been asking the United States to send troops to stabilize the situation , but management Biden has been reluctant to commit to the boots on the ground.
A State Department spokesperson did not comment to The New York Times about the kidnappings in Haiti on Saturday night.
Security has collapsed in Haiti after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
The nation’s political turmoil it escalated further after Mr. Moïse was murdered at his home in July, a murder that remains unsolved. The few remaining officials in the country soon began fighting for control of the government, and factionalism has continued for months, with officials accusing each other of participating in the conspiracy to assassinate the president.
Since then, gangs have become more assertive. They operate at will, kidnapping children on their way to school and pastors in the middle of delivering their services.