Residents in Haiti's capital stand with police in a battle to repel the latest gang attack

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Gangs launched a new attack on Haiti’s capital early Tuesday, targeting an upscale community in Port-au-Prince where gunmen clashed with residents who fought side by side with police.

The attack on Petionville was led by the Viv Ansanm group, whose spokesman, Jimmy Chérizier, a gang leader and former elite police officer, had announced the plan in a video posted on social media.

At least 28 suspected gang members were killed and hundreds of munitions seized, according to Lionel Lazarre, deputy spokesman for Haiti’s National Police.

It wasn't immediately clear if police had prepared for the attack or tried to preventively protect Petionville given that Chérizier, who is also known as Barbecue, had announced plans to attack it.

The turmoil in Port-au-Prince deepened late Tuesday, when Doctors Without Borders announced it was suspending critical care across the capital as it accused police officers of violence and threats against its staff, including rape and death. The aid group will halt patient admissions and transfers to its five medical facilities starting on Wednesday, a blow to a country with extremely limited medical care.

"We have been in Haiti for more than 30 years, and this decision is taken with a heavy heart. Healthcare services have never been so limited for people in Haiti,” Christophe Garnier, the mission's head in Haiti, said in a statement.

MSF said one of its ambulances was attacked by police last week, resulting in the killing of at least two patients and physical harm to its staff. The aid group reported four other recent violent incidents in one week alone, including one in which it accused an officer of saying that police would start executing and burning its staff, patients and ambulances.

Lazarre, the police deputy spokesman, did not return a message seeking comment.

The aid group's decision comes as violence surges across the capital.

Witnesses told The Associated Press earlier Tuesday that residents were angered by the newest gang attack on their community. They said some of the suspected gunmen were decapitated or had their feet cut off, while bodies were placed in a pile and set on fire.

The predawn attack began when two trucks carrying suspected gang members entered Petionville. One of the trucks blocked the main entrance to the community.

Chérizier had threatened reprisals against the management and staff of any hotels in the area where politicians or “oligarchs” may have taken refuge. He also demanded the resignation of Haiti's transitional presidential council and said the coalition would use “all its force” against it.

Gunmen also attacked the neighboring community of Canape Vert and other areas. Local resident Richard Derosier said that he heard gunfire and saw a man running around carrying a large machine gun.

“I asked God, ‘Are you going to let them save my life?’” Derosier recalled.

The attack comes days after gang violence forced Haiti’s main international airport to shut down for the second time this year as the country swore in a new prime minister following political infighting.

On Nov. 11, gunmen opened fire on a Spirit Airlines plane as it prepared to land, wounding a flight attendant. The shooting prompted the airport to close and several airlines to temporarily cancel flights to Port-au-Prince. However, the United Nations said it expects to resume its aid flights in Haiti on Wednesday.

Gang violence has forced more than 20,000 people to flee Port-au-Prince in recent days, according to the U.N. They join more than 700,000 people left homeless in recent years by the violence.

Viv Ansanm is also responsible for a series of coordinated attacks that began in late February targeting key government infrastructure. Gunmen attacked police stations, opened fire on the main international airport, forcing it to close for nearly three months, and raided Haiti's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Gangs control 85% of the capital and in recent weeks have launched attacks in previously peaceful communities to try and gain control of even more territory.

The attacks have escalated since police officers from Kenya, who are leading a U.N.-backed mission to quell violence in Haiti, arrived in late June. On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said through his spokesman that he was “alarmed by the escalating violence” as he urged financial and logistical support for the mission.

The U.S. government has been pushing for a U.N. peacekeeping force to replace the Kenyan-led mission because it lacks funds and personnel.

Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Passersby look at the abandoned body of an alleged gang member who was set on fire by residents, in the Pétion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A police officer works to clear barricades of burning tires set on fire by residents to deter gang members from entering their neighborhood, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A woman films a scene where the bodies of suspected gang members who were set on fire by residents sit in a heap in the middle of a road, in the Pétion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A resident carries tires to be added to a burning barricade to deter gang members from entering his neighborhood, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers man a checkpoint checking for weapons, in the Petion-Ville of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Residents gather before a person they say was killed in an attack by gang members, in the Pétion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The bodies of suspected gang members who were set on fire by residents, sit in a pile in the middle of a road in the Pétion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Alysha Clark jumped at the chance to play close to home. After playing overseas for many years in the offseason, the Tennessee native joined Athletes Unlimited this winter.

The organization will play its fourth season in Nashville from Feb. 5-March 2.

“It's really exciting as I haven’t played at home since college,” Clark, who played at Middle Tennessee State, told The AP in a phone interview. “To go back to where everything started at this point in my career is exciting.”

The professional league had previously played in Las Vegas in its inaugural season and then Dallas the next two years.

Clark also was excited to give back to the area.

“What AU does with the players outside of the court is something I’m really excited about,” she said. “It gives me a chance to have a footprint in the community back home.”

The 37-year-old forward who has won three WNBA titles, including one with Las Vegas in 2023, was happy to see so many chances for players to compete domestically now between Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league that opens play on Jan. 17 in Miami.

“It’s amazing the growth and opportunities with AU leading that front,” she said. “To be a part of that now and experience it speaks to the growth of women’s basketball and sports in general.”

Clark, who grew up 30 minutes from Nashville before moving there as a teenager, is just one of the players with Tennessee ties who will compete in AU this season. Chicago's Isabelle Harrison grew up in Nashville and is one of three former Tennessee Lady Vols playing. Jordan Horston and Meighan Simmons are the others.

Other WNBA players in the league include Kia Nurse, Maddie Siegrist, Kiersten Bell, Sydney Colson and Lexie Brown. AU has announced 15 of its 40 players. The rest will be disclosed at a later date.

AU Pro Basketball is five-on-five basketball, featuring players earning points both for team wins and individual performances. Teams change each week and the top four players in the standings act as captains and draft rosters. The player with the most points at the end of the season is the individual champ. Previous winners were Tianna Hawkins, NaLyssa Smith and Allisha Gray.

Brown has been with the league since its inception and was thrilled for the chance to play in Nashville. She was at an event there last month.

“They love women’s basketball, I met a couple that has a WNBA watch group that watches games around the city,” Brown said. “Its amazing. The south loves basketball. People talk about the south and football, I know a ton of basketball fans who would love a WNBA team closer in a city that people can get to from most places.”

The closest WNBA team to Nashville is Atlanta.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

FILE - Las Vegas Aces' Alysha Clark (7) looks to pass during the second half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game against the New York Liberty, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)