GANGS in Haiti are increasingly recruiting more children into their ranks, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned today.

The group said that it had spoken to six children recently involved with gangs, all of whom said they wanted to leave and had only joined because they were hungry and gangs were often the only source of food, shelter or money.

Boys are often used as informants, trained to use weapons and ammunition, and deployed in clashes against the police, HRW said.

Girls are raped and forced to cook and clean for gang members, the report said, and often discarded once they become pregnant.

HRW said that the criminal groups use social media apps to attract recruits, with the leader of the Village de Dieu gang, a rapper, publishing music videos of his soldiers.

The report said that he has a specialised unit to train children how to handle weapons and set up checkpoints.

HRW urged Haiti’s government and other countries to provide more resources for security forces, ensure children can eat and go to school, and provide rehabilitation for recruits.

Last week, a gang attack left more than 70 people dead in Pont-Sonde in one of Haiti’s biggest massacres in recent history.

The handful of residents that remain in the small town have blamed the government for the assault by the Gran Grif gang, a group created by former legislator Prophane Victor in order to secure his election and control the area.

More than 6,200 people have fled the town since the attack and many of the victims are being buried in a mass grave.

Lunoir Jean Chavanne, the town’s morgue driver, lost three of his relatives in attacks, including a 14-year-old boy.

He said: “I have to thank the government, because the gangs are killing people and kids cannot go to school.”

Mr Chavanne questioned why authorities did not take action to stop the attack, saying: “They’ve been announcing that they were coming a number of times on social media.”

“Four days later, the gang is still threatening people on social media, saying that they’re coming back to finish them.”

Haiti’s National Human Rights Defence Network said that the attack was sparked after a defence group called The Coalition attempted to limit gang activity in the area and prevent it from profiting off a makeshift road toll it had recently established nearby.