US designates Haiti gang alliance as transnational terrorist group

The United States on Friday designated Haiti's powerful Viv Ansanm gang alliance, whose members have taken control of almost all Port-au-Prince and spread to surrounding areas, a "transnational terrorist group", according to the U.S. Treasury Department website.

The Treasury Department also applied the designation to the Gran Grif gang, which in October took responsibility for a shocking massacre of at least 115 people in the agricultural town of Pont-Sonde.

The designation implies that the group is recognized as a significant threat beyond the borders of Haiti, extending its influence and activities internationally.