Amid the chaos, police stations and the international airport are under attack.
Gunfights escalated in multiple locations in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday, leaving several police officers dead and forcing dozens of commercial airlines to ground operations in the troubled Caribbean nation. .
Haiti's main international airport and aircraft were hit by shelling, forcing international and domestic airlines to suspend operations. Schools, universities and businesses have also been forced to close. At least one airline, Sunrise Airlines, suspended all flights.
At least four police officers, including two women, were killed in an attack on a police station near the Canaan district, the police union said.
A prominent gang leader said multiple factions are working together to launch attacks on provincial security forces in a bid to remove Prime Minister Ariel Henry from office. Several police stations were targeted in the attack, two of which were set on fire. Toussaint Louverture International Airport was also targeted.
Jimmy Cherisier, the leader of the gang known as “Barbecue,” promoted the attack in a social media video shortly before the fighting began.
“With our guns and the Haitian people, we will liberate this country,” he said.
The move comes in the absence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who is in Kenya trying to finalize the details of sending foreign troops to Haiti to help fight gangs.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office could not be reached for comment. Haitian National Police Chief Franz Herbe and police spokesperson Garry Desrosiers did not return messages seeking comment.
security and political crisis
Haiti is in both a security and political crisis. Armed groups have seized control of large swathes of the country in recent years, engaging in brutal violence against civilians and bringing the economy to a standstill.
At the same time, thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks to demand that Henry step down from power as promised.
Haiti currently has no elected officials, and Henry became prime minister with the support of the international community shortly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Under a political deal, the prime minister was supposed to hand over powers to elected officials by February 7 this year, but that has yet to happen.
Henry visited Kenya in hopes of advancing the deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti. A court in the East African country ruled in late January that the deployment plan was unconstitutional, but Prime Minister Henry and Kenyan officials are working on a deal that would allow for the early arrival of troops to Haiti.
Ahead of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit on Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Haiti needed a solution after years of political turmoil.
“We can send as many police forces to Haiti as possible.” [but] Without a political solution, the problem will not be solved,” Guterres said in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent.
On Wednesday, Henry agreed to “share power” with the opposition until new elections are held. The date has not yet been decided.