Reports: Violence escalates in Haiti – gangs attack prison “When Alexei died, my world collapsed”: that was Navalny’s funeral

Armed gangs in Haiti have attacked the national prison in the capital Port-au-Prince, according to media reports. An unknown number of prisoners are said to have managed to escape, the newspaper “Le Nouvelliste” reported. The police union had urgently requested support for additional units on Saturday evening in an attempt to stop the armed gangs.

Gang violence in the crisis-ridden Caribbean country has recently escalated significantly after interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya for discussions on an international police operation. After months of negotiations and legal wrangling, representatives of both countries signed an agreement on Friday. The Kenyan government wants to send a thousand police officers to the poor Caribbean country. During the head of government’s absence, criminal gangs in parts of Haiti’s capital paralyzed public life with gun violence. Shots were fired at the international airport, among other places. Several police officers were killed, according to government reports.

According to the Miami Herald, the prison, which is completely overcrowded, houses several gang leaders, as well as suspects in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Moïse was killed with twelve shots in his home on the night of July 7, 2021. According to the investigation, approximately twenty Colombian mercenaries committed the crime on behalf of various masterminds. According to the American legal system, the conspirators’ original plan was to kidnap Moïse and replace him as head of state. The background to the crime has still not been conclusively clarified. Henry then took over the reins of government.

Since the assassination of the president, the security situation in Haiti has deteriorated dramatically. According to UN estimates, brutal gangs control about 80 percent of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and are increasingly expanding their area of ​​influence into other parts of the country. The violence is exacerbating the precarious supply situation: according to the United Nations, almost half of Haiti’s eleven million inhabitants are suffering from acute hunger. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Friday at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit for more support for an international mission to help Haiti combat rampant gang violence. (sda/dpa)