Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille ordered gangs to surrender their weapons during a televised speech late Wednesday in which he acknowledged how dangerous life in Haiti's capital and beyond has become and pledged to crack down on the rampant violence.
Conille spoke a day after a second group of 200 Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti to help quell widespread gang violence as part of a U.N.-backed mission led by the East African country.
"Life every day in Port-au-Prince has turned into a battle for survival," he said. "Many innocent people have lost their lives."
Gangs control 80% of Port-au-Prince , and they have been blamed for killing or injuring more than 1,500 people in the first three months of the year alone.
Earlier Wednesday, Associated Press journalists observed a line of armored vehicles roll down the main boulevard in downtown Port-au-Prince, one of the capital's more dangerous areas, as a crowd of Haitians gathered quietly to observe, arms on their hips.
