2 U.N. Peacekeepers Hurt in Haiti Violence

Two U.N. peacekeepers were wounded in separate shootouts over the weekend, one with supporters of Haiti’s ousted president and the other with survivors of Tropical Storm Jeanne, officials said Sunday.

They were the first casualties of the 4-month-old U.N. mission in the Caribbean country.

In flood-ravaged Gonaives, an Argentine soldier was shot in the arm Saturday night after a memorial Mass for the estimated 3,000 dead in the wake of Jeanne. Protesters shouted abuse at visiting leaders of Haiti’s U.S.-backed government, accusing them of not doing enough to help.

Workers from Doctors of the World also came under attack in Gonaives, and the French group said it was evacuating its staff of seven until security improved.

Earlier Saturday, in the capital, Port-au-Prince, heavy gunfire erupted as about 150 Brazilian troops in armored vehicles and 150 Haitian police in trucks rolled into the volatile slum of Bel Air, where armed young men have barricaded themselves behind torched vehicles and bonfires, demanding the return of ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from exile in South Africa.

A Brazilian soldier was wounded in the foot, the first casualty among about 3,000 Brazilian-led peacekeepers, U.N. spokesman Toussaint Kongo-Doudou said. He said it appeared some gunmen were wounded.

The clashes came a day after the beheaded bodies of a father and son were found in the Port-au-Prince slum of La Saline.

The government has blamed Aristide supporters for the violence in Port-au-Prince, saying they are behind a campaign called “Operation Baghdad” and the recent beheadings of three police officers and others.

At least 26 people have been killed in violence that erupted as Aristide supporters stepped up protests Sept. 30.