Police are trying to reach a gang-controlled area in central Haiti where at least 16 people have been killed in a series of attacks over the weekend.
While so far only 16 fatalities have been confirmed by police, a local journalist spoke of "around 20 dead", while one human rights group warned that the number of fatalities could be as high as 70.
Local rights activists said the Gran Grif gang, one of Haiti's most feared criminal organisations, was behind the deadly attacks, which they said had caused 6,000 people to flee.
Gang violence has ravaged the Caribbean country for years and the multinational police force sent to contain it has struggled to enter areas where gangs hold sway.
Residents of the rural area of Jean-Denis, near the town of Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, said that a first attack took place in the early hours of Sunday.
