GANGS launched a new attack on Haiti’s capital on Tuesday, killing many civilians.

The attack on Delmas 30, a district of Port-au-Prince, began before dawn, with gunfire echoing through the streets as people fled their homes in panic, some cradling babies or carrying elderly people on their back.

“The country is suffering,” said Moricette Cedric Christian.

Mr Christian blamed the attack on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, which has claimed responsibility for other recent attacks. 

He said: “[They] don’t want us to survive.”

Local media reported that two Haitian soldiers were among the victims.

Police and army spokespeople did not immediately return messages for comment.

A man who declined to give his name recovered the body of a relative killed in the attack and placed it inside a wheelbarrow.

“A lot of people are victims,” he said, adding that it’s difficult to find refuge from a gang attack. “You run to the right, you are blocked. You run to the left, you are blocked.”

In the past month, gang violence has left more than 6,000 people homeless in the Port-au-Prince area, a United Nations statement said on Tuesday.

“Entire families were brutally wiped out in their homes, while others, including children and babies, were shot dead as they tried to escape,” the UN said of other attacks previous to Tuesday’s.