UN hits out at rising death toll and human rights violations in Haiti

Police drive their car over a barricade set up by taxi drivers to protest fuel shortages in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (AP)

The UN human rights office has expressed concern about rising violence around Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, saying 99 people have been reported killed in recent fighting between rival gangs in the Cite Soleil district alone.

The warning came hours after the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution renewing the mandate of a UN office in the troubled Caribbean nation, and calling on all countries to stop the transfer of small arms, light weapons and ammunition to anyone there supporting gang violence and criminal activity.