UN peacekeepers carried out a disarmament operation on Thursday morning in a large slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, after three people were reportedly killed in gang fighting on Wednesday night.

Damien Onses-Cardona, the UN mission spokesman, said that more than 1,000 soldiers and policemen took part in the operation in Cite Soleil, the second disarmament operation following the first one in December 2004.

Cite Soleil and Bel-Air, the least developed areas in the capital, are considered the main bastion of armed supporters for former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, who fled the country amida popular revolt in February 2004.

Onses-Cardona said that in order to conserve the strength of the Haitian police, they did not participate in the raid.

Since September 2004, the Haitian police have become a target of former Haitian troops and Aristide's supporters, with five policemen killed.

In an interview with the Xinhua, Zhao Xiaoxun, head of the Chinese riot police affiliated with the UN peacekeepers, said thatthe Chinese police did not take part in the operation, but conducted patrol in other areas.

Zhao said that in recent days, the situation in the capital was deteriorating with gun shots heard incessantly.

On Wednesday night, gang leader Robenson Thomas and two of his lieutenants were killed in fights with another gang in Cite Soleil.

Thomas, a former Aristide supporter, had realigned himself with the former president's opposition.

On Monday, two policemen and a civilian driving in an official car were shot dead in the area as well.

Source: Xinhua