Haiti Can’t Calm Down: Gangs Attack Government Buildings

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After days of gang violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, several buildings in the government district have been attacked, according to media reports. The bandits’ alleged targets on Friday evening (local time) included the National Palace, the Interior Ministry and a regional police headquarters, Haitian and US media reported. Social media users reported intense gunfire.

Violence has paralyzed Port-au-Prince for more than a week. Police stations were attacked and shots were fired at the airport; all flights were cancelled. According to information on Wednesday from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk (59), the healthcare system was on the verge of collapse. He said more than 4,500 prisoners escaped in attacks on two prisons last Saturday. According to a report by the portal “AyiboPost”, the notoriously understaffed police had little presence on the streets of the capital.

More than 4,500 prisoners escaped

The humanitarian situation in Haiti was already very tense. According to the UN, almost half of the Caribbean country’s 11 million residents were suffering from acute hunger, and several ruthless gangs controlled a total of about 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. Now the two main armed groups joined forces. Its leader, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, threatened civil war if interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not resign.

He had agreed to hold elections at the end of August 2025. They would be the first in Haiti since Henry took over the reins of government shortly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Henry apparently did not return from a trip abroad due to the security situation.

The US government called on him to speed up the process towards elections. UN Secretary General António Guterres (74) called for funding for a multinational security mission in Haiti that had already been approved by the UN Security Council. (SDA)

Source: Blick