03 March 2024 at 20:10
Criminal gangs in Haiti have stormed a prison, helping hundreds of prisoners escape. The storming of the prison follows a week in which gang violence increased sharply. The gangs demand the resignation of President Ariel Henry.
Hundreds of prisoners have escaped from the main prison in the capital Port-au-Prince. There were almost four thousand prisoners in the prison. A large number of them are believed to have escaped, a local journalist told the newspaper BBC.
The prison was already under fire on Saturday evening. Haiti’s National Police called through X On Saturday evening, all police officers in the city who had a car or a weapon at home came to reinforce the troops at the prison.
The storming of the prison is a new escalation in the wave of violence that erupted in the Caribbean country on Thursday. Since then, gangs have attacked several police stations in Port-au-Prince. Four police officers were shot dead and several police stations burned down.
On Friday, armed men had tried to take control of the container port. Shots were also fired near the airport. Several flights have therefore been cancelled. Due to the violence in Haiti, the American and French embassies have advised against traveling around Port-au-Prince.
Photo: AP
Gangs want to depose president
The gangs are led by gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer. He tries to unite the gangs and together they depose President Ariel Henry.
There is frustration in Haiti that Prime Minister Henry did not resign at the beginning of February. Henry became acting president in 2021, succeeding the murdered Jovenel Moïse. Henry was given that position without any elections.
In an earlier agreement, Henry promised to resign on February 7 and organize elections, but that did not happen. On Wednesday, Caribbean heads of state said Henry had pledged to call elections and step down by August 2025.
Since the assassination of former President Moïse, Haiti has regularly experienced violence. Violence had increased further in recent months. In January, 1,100 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in the country. The United Nations called it the most violent month in Haiti in the past two years.
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- 14 Aug 2023 at 06:03
Gang violence in Haiti increased: murder and sexual violence are the order of the day
Image: AP
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2024-03-03 19:10:48
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