Haiti's government announced on Thursday it was extending a state of emergency and nighttime curfew, in an attempt to curb the gang violence and protests plaguing the country.
ADVERTISEMENTHaiti's government said Thursday that it was extending a state of emergency and nighttime curfew to try and curb violent gang attacks that have paralysed the capital of Port-au-Prince in a fierce battle for political power.
An initial three-day curfew was announced over the weekend, but gangs have continued to attack police stations and other state institutions at night. Haiti's National Police is struggling to contain the violence with limited staff and resources.
The attacks began a week ago, shortly after embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to hold general elections in mid-2025 while attending a meeting of Caribbean leaders in Guyana.
Gangs have burned police stations, shot up the main international airport, which remains closed, and raided Haiti's two biggest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
At the time, Henry was in Kenya to push for the deployment of a UN-backed police force from the East African country to help fight gangs in Haiti. But a court in January ruled that the deployment was unconstitutional, and it wasn't clear if the force would be deployed given the worsening violence in Haiti.
Henry is currently in Puerto Rico, where he was forced to land on Tuesday after the armed groups laid siege to the international airport, preventing him from returning.
Rising death toll
Dozens of people have died in Haiti's recent gang attacks, including several police officers. The violence also has left more than 15,000 people homeless, in addition to some 300,000 Haitians who lost their homes to gang wars in recent years.
In addition, there were reports that gangs on Thursday looted shipping containers filled with food at the main port in Port-au-Prince, raising concerns that provisions in the capital and elsewhere would dwindle quickly.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the insecurity has forced the World Food Programme to suspend its maritime transport service, which is currently the only means of moving food and medical supplies for aid organisations from Port-au-Prince to other parts of the country.
He also said the UN special envoy for Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, is calling for the immediate deployment of a UN-backed force "to prevent the country from plunging even further into chaos, as gang violence in Haiti has reached unprecedented levels.”
Meanwhile, a US Defence official said a Marine Corps Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, or FAST team, was to be deployed to Haiti to protect the US Embassy.
Haiti's worsening crisis prompted the Royal Bahamas Police Force to announce Thursday that it had set up a blockade in the southeast part of the archipelago given the two jail breaks and the “mass displacement” of Haitians due to the ongoing violence. The Bahamas, about 850km to the north, is a popular destination for Haitians fleeing their country.
On Wednesday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the US has asked Henry to "move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections."
Henry has not made any public comments since the gang attacks began last week.
On Thursday, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said Caribbean leaders have been working around the clock to help find a political consensus to alleviate Haiti's crisis.