At least 3,661 people have been killed in Haiti in the first half of this year amid the “senseless” gang violence that has engulfed the country, according to the United Nations.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Friday that the death toll between January and June – which included 100 children – showed that last year’s “high levels of violence” had been maintained.

“No more lives should be lost to this senseless criminality,” said UN rights chief Volker Turk in a statement.

Haiti was already reeling from years of unrest as powerful armed groups – often with ties to the country’s political and business leaders – vied for influence and control of territory.

The situation worsened dramatically at the end of February, when the gangs launched attacks on prisons and other state institutions across the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The UN report documented “extremely serious patterns of human rights violations and abuses taking place” in Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite Department north of the capital.

It also tracked growing violence in the southern part of the West Department, where the capital is located, an area of the country that had so far been largely unaffected.

According to the report, “gangs have continued to use sexual violence to punish, spread fear and subjugate populations”.

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