France, April 4 -- The latest wave of violence to engulf Haiti - including a mass jailbreak and deadly protests-has allowed criminal gangs to tighten their grip on key urban areas, plunging the country further into chaos and testing the limits of the transitional government.

Haiti is facing one of the most serioussecurity crises in its history, as criminal gangs continue their assault on law and order.

On 31 March, the prison in Mirebalais, a city 60 kilometres northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince, was stormed by the gang coalition "Viv Ansanm" - meaning "Live Together" in Haitian Creole.

The incident, which saw more than 500 prisoners escape, has underscored the growing power of armed groups and the inability of the authorities to ...