Violence rocks Haiti as prime minister visits Kenya

[March 01, 2024]  By Harold Isaac
 
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -A wave of panic swept through downtown Port-au-Prince on Thursday as violence and heavy gunfire broke out, in what a gang leader said was a demonstration against authorities.

The armed clashes involving gangs, police and vigilantes took place on the same day Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry arrived in Kenya for talks on the deployment of a multinational security mission in the country backed by the United Nations.  

People move away from an area where police confront armed gangs after prominent gang leader Jimmy Cherizier called for Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry's government to be toppled, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol

By midday, most institutions and businesses in the city had closed and thousands of people were trying to flee the downtown area on foot or public transport, witnesses said.

Special police units were deployed throughout the city and national police trade union SYNAPOHA said four officers had been killed, including a chief inspector.

Haitian airline Sunrise Airways halted flights as violence flared, a company spokesperson said, adding shootouts near the capital's airport had put people in danger.

"We have chosen to take our destiny in our own hands. The battle we are waging will not only topple the Ariel (Henry) government. It is a battle that will change the whole system," said former cop and gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, in a video shared on social media.

Henry, who came to power after the assassination of the country's last president in 2021, had pledged to step down by early February, but later said security must first be re-established in order to ensure free and fair elections.

Violent gangs have since expanded their territory and are now estimated to control most of the capital. The U.N. estimates the conflict killed close to 5,000 people last year and has driven some 300,000 from their homes, while the fighting has blocked off access to food and medical services.

A U.N. spokesperson on Thursday said five countries had formally notified the United Nations of their intent to contribute personnel to the international force, which Henry had urgently requested back in 2022.

No numbers have yet been given for the potential force and a deployment date has yet to be announced. Henry, who has said security must be reestablished to hold fair elections, told regional leaders this week he would hold a vote by August 2025.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac; Writing by Valentine Hilaire and Sarah Morland; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Stephen Coates)

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