An explosion of violence in Haiti has left over 150 people dead in the last week after vigilante groups left the corpses of mobsters chopped up and burnt on the streets.

Criminal gangs have took over most of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince under the leadership of former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier. 

Now he has threatened to attack any hotel that might be hosting politicians. 

Haiti’s security crisis dramatically escalated this month as gangs shot at commercial planes, flights into the country were halted, the prime minister was replaced, and armed gangs attacked parts of the capital previously spared the worst the violence.

However, following over a decade of violent political turmoil, locals and police have started to fight back against the gangs. 

The Times reported that residents in the Pétion-Ville suburb of the city reported seeing police and vigilante groups joining forces to lynch at least 28 suspected gang members before they cut up their remains and left them burning in the street.

READ ALSO – Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi FLEE the US following Donald Trump’s presidential victory

The once affluent area of Pétion-Ville has found itself at the centre of the now-chronic barbarity that afflicts the country ever since the then-President of Haiti, Jovenal Moise, was assassinated by a group of 28 gunmen while sleeping in his private home in the suburb.

Criminal gangs have attempted to take advantage of the often vacant government of Haiti which has struggled to control the country ever since the devastating 2010 earthquake which destroyed most of the infrastructure and displaced over a million.