Pallade Veneta - Residents flee new wave of violence in Haiti capital

Armed groups have been battling for control of the city for several years, and clashes have intensified in recent weeks as the rival gangs attempt to establish new territories.

"I'm moving home for the fifth time because of the gang violence," complained 64-year-old Nocia, who preferred not to give her surname for fear of reprisals. "I can't stand it any more. I want to leave the capital."

Nearby, her furniture was loaded into a van.

Another resident, Martine, told AFP that she intended to take her children to live with her mother in the south of the country, leaving "by boat if I have to."

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is politically unstable and the capital has for years languished under the control of rival armed gangs, which run protection rackets and carry out murders, rapes and kidnaps for ransom.

According to the UN's International Organization for Migration, between February 14 and March 5 this year more than 40,000 people fled their homes.

At the start of this month, aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was taking in and treating casualties at twice the typical rate, or about 90 per week.

Human rights activist Pierre Esperance, director of a national network, warned that all of Port-au-Prince was now at risk of falling to the crime lords.

"The police is more in defensive than offensive mode," he said, complaining that an international security force deployed from last summer had made little difference.

Led by Kenya with United Nations support, the six-country force was supposed to number 2,500 troops, but so far has deployed only around 1,000, by an AFP tally.

On Friday, Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fil-Aimer's cabinet met to discuss the security situation, but made no announcements.

F.Amato--PV