Several hundred protesters stoned a UN patrol and yelled anti-UN slogans in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, yesterday as anger spread over a cholera epidemic that is killing dozens of people every day.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators who accuse UN peacekeepers of bringing the disease to the Caribbean nation, where national elections are to be held on November 28th, more than 10 months after a devastating earthquake.
Reports that Nepalese UN troops were the source of the raging cholera outbreak have angered many in the Western Hemisphere's poorest state, although the United Nations says there is no conclusive evidence to support this.
A patrol of UN troops in their traditional blue helmets withdrew hastily after they were pelted with stones by the demonstrators, who also tried to block streets with rocks and debris. The protesters shouted "Minustah must go" and "Minustah brought cholera to Haiti," referring to the acronym of the UN mission.
The protest in the heart of the capital followed several days of anti-UN riots in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, where at least two people were killed and several dozen injured in clashes between rioters and UN troops.
In the north of the country, the violence has badly disrupted UN-led international efforts to stem the spread of the cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,110 people and well over 18,000 sick.
The Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation said its Haiti country office had received reports of cholera victims dying in the streets because they were unable to reach health facilities in time.
The unrest has raised serious security questions ahead of this month's presidential and legislative elections as UN peacekeepers given the task of backing Haitian police increasingly become the target of anger over the epidemic.
Cap-Haitien's airport has been closed since Monday, preventing medical supplies and personnel from being flown in.
Roads in the northern city have been blocked by burning barricades, stopping cholera patients from reaching hospital. A CNN correspondent in Cap-Haitien said one hospital had reported 35 patients with gunshot wounds since Monday.
Aid workers said the situation in Cap-Haitien was calmer yesterday but it would require a further 24 hours without incidents to be able to fully resume relief operations.
"How the hell are we going to run a cholera response in the middle of this? You can't control a cholera epidemic if you don't have security and if you can't reach people," a frustrated foreign humanitarian worker told Reuters.
Reuters