UN relief chief allocates $12 million to tackle 'dire situation’ in Haiti

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said Thursday that he allocated $12 million from the UN's emergency fund for Haiti to "address the dire situation" in that country.

"Unending gang violence has displaced 50,000 people, pushed 5 million into acute hunger and weakened an already fragile health system. These funds will enable aid partners to reach the hardest-hit," he wrote on X.

Haiti has been under siege internally since mid-2021 when gangs took over infrastructure and violent upheaval saw battles for turf. Medical help has evaporated and starvation looms as food supplies are almost non-existent.

A rampage by gangs on March 18 targeted previously peaceful upscale neighborhoods in the nation's capital. At least a dozen people were killed.

Thousands have been killed in the conflict while hundreds of thousands have fled the country.

Gangs have burned police stations, stormed the airport and freed 4,000 inmates from the two largest prisons.