“The latest upsurge in violence in Haiti’s capital is a harbinger of worse to come,” UN rights chief Volker Turk warned in a statement. “The gang violence must be promptly halted. Haiti must not be allowed to descend further into chaos.”

Violence has intensified dramatically in Port-au-Prince since November 11, as a coalition of gangs pushes for full control of the Haitian capital.

“At least 150 people have been killed, 92 injured and about 20,000 forced to flee their homes over the past week,” Turk’s statement said. In addition, “Port-au-Prince’s estimated four million people are practically being held hostage as gangs now control all the main roads in and out of the capital”.

Turk said that at least 55 percent of the deaths from simultaneous and apparently coordinated attacks in the capital resulted from exchanges of fire between gang members and police. He also highlighted reports of a rise in mob lynchings.

This was happening “at a time when the health system is already on the brink of collapse”, he said, adding that “threats and attacks on humanitarian workers are also deeply worrying”. “Gang violence must not prevail over the institutions of the State,” he said, demanding “concrete steps … to protect the population and to restore effective rule of law”.