Violence Heightens In Haiti, As Gangs Tighten Grip
Over the weekend, the violence in the capital Port-au-Prince ramped up once again.
Heavily armed gangs attacked the national palace and set part of the interior ministry on fire with petrol bombs.
It comes after a sustained attack on the international airport, which remains closed to all flights – including one carrying Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
He tried to fly back to Haiti from the United States last week, but his plane was refused permission to land. He was then turned away from the neighboring Dominican Republic too.
With no Prime Minister and a government in disarray, the gangs’ power over the capital is near absolute.
They control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince and the country’s most notorious gang leader, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier has again told the Prime Minister to resign.
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Meanwhile, the police, outnumbered and demoralized, are struggling to keep looters at bay.
On Saturday, the US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the Kenyan president about the Haiti crisis and the two men underscored their commitment to a multinational security mission to restore order.
Gangs in Port-au-Prince have taken advantage of the prime minister’s absence to unleash a series of co-ordinated attacks.
Among their targets was the airport – which they want to control to prevent Mr Henry from flying back in – and two prisons, from which they freed thousands of inmates.
At least six police officers have been killed while the National Police Academy has been destroyed.
The bodies of several prisoners were also left lying on the streets after the storming of the national penitentiary.
The violence has caused Haiti’s humanitarian crisis to deteriorate even further.
