Panama City, Oct 25 (IANS): At least 50 suspected gang members have been killed in an attack on Haiti's western coastal city of Arcahaie.

While the majority were shot by police, at least a dozen drowned on Wednesday when their boat, carrying ammunition for gangs attacking the city, struck a reef and capsized, Xinhua news agency reported Wilner Rene, an official from Haiti's Civil Protection Agency, as telling the local Radio Caraibes.

The assault on Arcahaie, located about 50 km northwest of the capital of Port-au-Prince, began on October 21. Armed assailants initially hid in nearby areas before being discovered by police, Rene said, adding that the assault is ongoing and the police are in urgent need of reinforcements.

The attack is part of a broader wave of violence that has gripped Haiti in recent years, driven by a deepening political and social crisis.

Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, Haiti has faced a power vacuum that has allowed armed gangs to seize control of large parts of urban areas, particularly in Port-au-Prince.

Combined with shortages of basic resources, the violence has displaced more than 700,000 people and led to thousands of deaths, worsening the country's humanitarian crisis.