US, Haitian authorities working to secure release of 17 missionaries kidnapped by gang

U.S. officials are working with Haitian authorities to try to secure the release of 12 adults and five children abducted over the weekend by a Haitian gang notorious for killings, kidnappings and extortion. 

Those abducted are associated with a U.S.-based missionary group and were taken by the 400 Mawozo gang, which controls the area east of the country's capital Port-au-Prince. The kidnapping occurred Saturday in the community of Ganthier, which is inside the gang's area, while the group visited an orphanage.

Local unions and organizations are expected to begin a strike Monday to protest Haiti's worsening lack of security. The impoverished island nation is again suffering a spike in gang-related kidnappings, which follows months of unrest and uncertainty beginning with the still-unsolved assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August that killed more than 2,200.

The kidnapping occurred just days after U.S. officials visited Haiti promising increased resources for the country's National Police, including an additional $15 million to help reduce gang violence. Thousands of Haitians have been displaced to temporary shelters, where they are living in increasingly unlivable conditions.