Haiti. Missionaries, family members and children abducted by the kidnapper gang. The FBI joins the investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will be involved in an investigation to find and release more than a dozen Christian missionaries who have been kidnapped and held on Haiti – an American law enforcement official told Reuters journalists.

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Missionaries were abducted near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on their way back from an orphanage in the Croix des Bouquets area.

Christian Aid Ministries, a relief group based in the US, Ohio, confirmed on Sunday in a statement that the abductees are linked to their organization. They are sixteen US citizens and one Canadian: five men, seven women, and five children.

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A spokeswoman for the White House on Monday Jen Psaki announced that the president Joe Biden was notified of the kidnapping.

The BBC recalled that Haiti has one of the highest abduction rates in the world. And for years it has been in a deep political crisis. Aggression increased following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July. These events remain unexplained, and feuding factions are fighting for control of the country. “Kidnapping of both rich and poor has become commonplace. But even in a country of such lawlessness, the kidnapping of such a large group of Americans shocked officials,” the New York Times commented.

Violence was noted in and around Port-au-Prince. According to some estimates, gangs now control about half of the city.

According to journalists from “The Washington Post”, the group was kidnapped by the fearsome 400 Mawozo gang, known for mass kidnappings and attacks on religious groups. This information was also provided to the Associated Press by Haitian Police Inspector Frantz Champagne. “The name of the gang, from Creole, translates as 400 inexperienced men,” the journal describes. It has been indicated that the gang is in control of the very area where a group of missionaries have been kidnapped.

In April of this year, 400 Mawozo kidnapped five priests and two nuns. They were held in harsh conditions for over three weeks. The gang demanded a million dollars for the group’s safe return home. It is unclear whether the ransom was paid, but the abductees returned home.