Marines kill two Haitians in battle
The Marines were patrolling yesterday evening near the private residence of outgoing Prime Minister Yvon Neptune when they came under "hostile fire", Staff Sgt Timothy Edwards said.
He said they then shot and killed at least two gunmen. No peacekeepers were wounded.
US Southern Command spokesman Raul Duany said the gunmen were shooting from a rooftop near the prime minister's residence.
Both Duany and Maj Richard Crusan said the bodies of the alleged gunmen were never recovered and they could not immediately confirm the deaths. Sgt Edwards didn't say how he knew two gunmen had been killed.
In a separate incident, Maj Crusan said several people got out of a car late Tuesday and fired on Marines, who shot back. Three people then fled on foot, he said.
A body was still on the footpath early yesterday near where the shooting occurred, but Maj Crusan and others refused to say whether that person was involved.
On Sunday, Marines killed an alleged gunman who opened fire on a demonstration, and on Monday they killed a driver speeding toward a checkpoint. The Defence Department has said the Marines acted within their orders to fire when they felt threatened.
The approximately 1,600 US forces in Haiti have a limited set of circumstances under which they can use deadly force. They cannot stop looting, even of US companies, nor can they stop Haitian-on-Haitian violence, officials said.
The shooting came as peacekeepers tried to begin disarming the general population, a potentially volatile move after weeks of bloodshed. There was little evidence of peacekeeper disarmament early yesterday.
