(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Port-au-Prince: Five people who were kidnapped in Haiti last month, including four missionaries, have been freed from captivity, their Catholic congregation said Sunday, against a backdrop of surging gang violence in the capital Port-au-Prince.
"The Brothers of the Sacred Heart... is relieved by the release of four of its members and an associate held hostage since February 23," the parish wrote in a statement.
"The struggle is not over, as brothers Pierre Isaac Valmeus and Adam Montclaison Marius are still deprived of their freedom," it added.
The missionaries were abducted in Port-au-Prince, where kidnappings have become commonplace as the Western hemisphere's poorest nation descends further into unrest and dysfunction.
A ransom demand was made after their abduction, a source close to the parish told AFP.
Criminal groups, which already control much of Port-au-Prince as well as roads leading to the rest of the country, have unleashed havoc in recent days as they try to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Pope Francis in his Sunday prayer said he was "following with concern and pain the serious crisis affecting Haiti" and called on people to work for peace and reconciliation.
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