Geneva: The UN reported on Tuesday that more than 600 people died in gang violence in Haiti last month because the government was unable to protect civilians.

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that "every report I receive from Haiti underscores the scope of the suffering and drives home the message that Haitians need urgent support and they need it now."

He reiterated his request that a specialised armed force be sent from the international community to assist Haiti's police and government in reestablishing order.

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Since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in July 2021, the Caribbean nation—the poorest in the Americas—has been engulfed in a political and economic crisis.

Currently, rival gangs rule the majority of Port-au-Prince. The UN stated that violence was "becoming more extreme and more frequent (and) spreading relentlessly as gangs seek to extend their control" in its quarterly report for January to March, which was published on Tuesday.

Turk's office reported that "in the month of April alone, more than 600 people were killed in a new wave of extreme violence that hit several districts across the capital," adding that previously considered safe areas were now affected.

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This comes after at least 846 people were killed, 393 were injured, and 395 were kidnapped in the first three months of 2023 -- a 28% increase in violence from the previous quarter.

According to the report, gangs were "firing into homes" and shooting "indiscriminately" at bystanders on the street with snipers, and people were "being burned alive on public transportation."

Turk claimed that because the Haitian government "lacked the capacity to respond," citizens were forming vigilante organisations to take on the gangs.

As a result, "mob killings and lynchings of alleged gang members" had increased. There were at least 164 such homicides reported in April alone.

Turk, who last week warned that Haiti was "dangling over an abyss," said, "This will only fuel the spiral of violence."

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"We must not lose sight of the fact that the current violence and the dominance of gangs over communities are primarily caused by extreme poverty and a lack of basic services.

"The government must do everything possible to uphold its responsibility to ensure that people have regular and unhindered access to clean water, food, health care, and shelter," said Türk. "The international community must support the government in this endeavour.