Haiti - FLASH : The metropolitan area under attacks

[Judi Lynn]

2. Haitian police spokesman says new gang attacks across capital overwhelmed officers

World Mar 1, 2024 7:38 PM EST

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian police were overwhelmed by a series of coordinated violent attacks by gang members across the capital in which four officers were killed, a national police spokesman said Friday.

The attacks Thursday in Port-au-Prince were led by gunmen who opened fire on targets including Haiti’s international airport and seized control of two police stations, prompting people to flee dozens of communities in fear as schools and businesses closed.

“The situation yesterday was horrible,” spokesman Garry Desrosiers said in an interview with Radio Caraibes. “The city center was at war.”

Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang federation known as G9 and Family and Allies, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

He said the objective was to capture Haiti’s police chief and government ministers and prevent the return of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was in Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of police from the East African nation to fight gangs in Haiti.

More:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/haitian-police-spokesman-says-new-gang-attacks-across-capital-overwhelmed-officers