Dr. Elisabeth Victor was kidnapped in the Martissant district of the capital, Port-au-Prince while she was returning from work at the Delmas Hospital Center when she was intercepted by armed individuals south of the Haitian capital. The kidnappers have yet to contact her family with their ransom demands. (tripfoumi.com, 17 October 2021)

Talking to reporters, Haiti’s justice minister, Liszt Quitel, stated that the 400 Mawozo gang that kidnapped the 17 aid workers two days earlier, has contacted the country chief of the Christian Aid Ministries and demanded a ransom of US$1 million for each person they are holding. The FBI and Haitian police are in contact with the kidnappers, saying talks could take weeks. The gang, known as 400 Mawozo, controls the area where the missionaries were abducted in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince, the capital. The group has sown terror there for several months, engaging in armed combat with rival gangs and kidnapping businessmen and police officers. The gang has taken kidnapping in Haiti to a new level, snatching people en masse as they ride buses or walk the streets in groups whose numbers might once have kept them safe. (nytimes.com, 19 October 2021)

Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries confirmed that a group of 17 American and Canadian missionaries were kidnapped by gang members as they were leaving an orphanage in the Croix des Bouquets area in the capital of Port-au-Prince. The group was made up of five men, seven women and five children included an 8-month-old and minors aged 3, 6, 14 and 16. According to an unnamed Haitian security forces source, the victims included 14 adults and three minors, were traveling on board a bus to the airport to the to drop off some members of the group before continuing to Titanyen. Based on the location of the kidnapping, the 400 Mawozo gang was likely involved in the kidnapping. The U.S. State Department is aware of the reports, a spokesperson told reporters but did not offer details. A surge in gang violence has displaced thousands and hampered economic activity in the poorest country in the Americas. Violence spiraled after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July and an earthquake in August which killed over 2,000 people. (reuters.com, 17 October 2021 & granthshala.com, 19 October 2021)

At approximately 12:05 pm local time, a member of parliament from the Conservative Party was stabbed multiple times while meeting with constituents at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in in Essex, approximately 64Km/ 40 miles east of London. Shortly after the attack, police officers arrested the 25-year-old suspect who is a British national of Somali descent. The victim was evacuated by air ambulance before succumbing to his wounds. While initially police stated that the attacker’s motive were unknown, the murder is now being investigated as terrorist incident with potential link to Islamist extremism.

At approximately 1:45 pm local time, two armed men wearing suicide vests opened fire at the Shiite Fatimiya Mosque located in southern Kandahar city’s district one (PD1) during the Friday prayers. One of the gunmen detonated his explosives device at the entrance of the mosque while engaged by security guards, while the other was able to enter and blew himself up among worshipers. At least 35 people were killed in the blast and at least 68 others were wounded. Via its Amaq online news agency, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the attack hours later. The attack, follow a similar bombing on 8 October at a mosque in the city of Kunduz, which was also claimed by group. The attacks undermine the ruling of the Taliban who has claim to have restored security since taking control of the country in August.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives device inside a restaurant a frequented by security forces near the Fagah intersection in the capital Mogadishu. At least five people were killed, and six others injured in the attack. Though no group has claimed responsibility, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group frequently carries out such attacks throughout the country.