Gunmen kidnap Haiti police inspector general in Port-au-Prince
What's new: James Boyard's wife and 6-year-old daughter were also taken, and a ransom was requested, the New York Times reported.
Armed men kidnapped James Boyard, Haiti's police inspector general and a senior Defense Ministry official, in Port-au-Prince on Thursday in one of the highest-profile abductions in the country in recent years. Boyard, who also serves as chief of staff to Defense Minister Mario Andrésol, was seized in the Bourdon neighborhood, according to media reports cited by the Associated Press and Reuters. The New York Times reported that Boyard's wife and 6-year-old daughter were also taken and that the kidnappers demanded a ransom. The abduction underscores how gangs have expanded beyond their usual strongholds as Haiti's security crisis deepens. The United Nations said earlier this month that gang violence in Haiti has killed at least 2,310 people, injured 1,106 and led to 99 kidnappings this year.