Heavily armed gangs tried to seize control of Haiti’s main international airport on Monday, exchanging gunfire with police and soldiers in the latest attack on key government sites in an explosion of violence that includes a mass escape from the country’s two biggest prisons.
The Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed when the attack occurred, with no planes operating and no passengers on site.
Associated Press journalists saw an armoured truck on the tarmac shooting at gangs to try and prevent them from entering airport grounds as scores of employees and other workers fled from whizzing bullets.
It is the biggest attack on the airport in Haiti’s history.
Last week, the airport was struck briefly by bullets amid ongoing gang attacks, but gangs did not enter the airport nor seize control of it.
The attack occurred just hours after authorities in Haiti ordered a nighttime curfew following violence in which armed gang members overran the two biggest prisons and freed thousands of inmates over the weekend.
Haiti declares emergency after weekend jailbreak, explosion of violence
Haiti declares emergency after weekend jailbreak, explosion of violence
“The secretary general is deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs have intensified their attacks on critical infrastructure over the weekend,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
A 72-hour state of emergency began Sunday night. The government said it would try to track down the escaped inmates, including from a penitentiary were the vast majority were in pre-trial detention, with some accused of slayings, kidnappings and other crimes.
“The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders,” said a statement from Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, the acting prime minister.
Gang leaders such as Jimmy Cherisier, known by the nickname Barbecue, say they are coordinating to oust Prime Minister Henry, who has led the troubled Caribbean nation since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Gangs already were estimated to control up to 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince, the capital. They are increasingly coordinating their actions and choosing once unthinkable targets like the Central Bank.
Henry travelled to Kenya last week to try to salvage support for a United Nations-backed security force to help stabilise Haiti in its conflict with the increasingly powerful crime groups.
Dujarric said the secretary general stressed the need for urgent action, especially in providing financial support for the mission, “to address the pressing security requirements of the Haitian people and prevent the country from plunging further into chaos”.
Haiti’s National Police has roughly 9,000 officers to provide security for more than 11 million people, according to the UN. They are routinely overwhelmed and outgunned.
Meanwhile, Haiti’s neighbours began shoring up their defences and recalling embassy staff.
The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and last year deported tens of thousands of Haitians, said on Monday that its defence minister was touring the border to supervise progress on a border fence, while the president ruled out opening refugee camps for Haitians in the country.
The United States urged its citizens to leave Haiti “as soon as possible”. A spokesperson for the US State Department said he believed Henry was returning to Haiti.
Haiti judge charges widow, ex-PM over president’s 2021 assassination
Haiti judge charges widow, ex-PM over president’s 2021 assassination
Brazil’s government called on the international community to implement the UN’s resolution to send a multinational force to Haiti. Brazil authorities noted in a statement that it had led a United Nations peace mission to Haiti from 2004 to 2017.
Neighbouring Bahamas said it had called embassy staff back to New Providence, leaving just its charge d’affaires and two security attaches, while Mexico said its nationals should limit themselves to essential transit and stock up on water, fuel and non-perishables.
The UN last October ratified the plan to send in an international force, based on voluntary contributions from member states, to help Haitian police restore security.
However, a date for deployment has yet to be set. As of the end of February, the UN said five nations had formally pledged troops – The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad – and less than US$11 million was deposited in its fund.
The largest public pledges for personnel come from Benin, which offered 1,500 people, according to the UN, and Kenya, which late last week sealed a deal with Henry to lead the mission with some 1,000 police officers.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Agence France-Presse
