Efe Port-au-Prince
Prince Port
Updated Saturday, March 9, 2024-02:31
The surroundings of the
National Palace of Haiti,
located in the country's capital, are the scene of intense shootings on Friday night, which have been increasing, according to EFE.
The shots are heard around the National Palace, in a wide area that goes from Champ de Mars to Nazon, Lalue, Canape-Vert and Turgeau, in the heart of Port-au-Prince.
At this time the situation is one of
great confusion,
as if there were attacks in several areas, and some versions do not rule out that the objective of the armed gangs is to try to take over the National Palace.
In addition, some images show
large holes in the walls of
the capital's airport.
The day had passed in apparent calm in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and only in the afternoon were sporadic shots fired.
Tension and violence have increased exponentially in the capital after it became known on February 28 that Haitian Prime Minister
Ariel Henry
had committed to holding elections before the end of August 2025.
The violence reached its peak last Saturday, when gangs entered
the two main prisons in the capital,
allowing more than 3,000 prisoners to escape.
Henry, whose removal from power the armed gangs are pursuing, is in Puerto Rico, after several days with an unknown whereabouts.
The prime minister, the country's highest authority after the assassination in 2021 of President
Jovenel Moise,
is now the subject of pressure both internally and abroad to favor a transition that helps stop the acute crisis and extreme violence in the country.
Haiti is awaiting the deployment of a multinational security support mission led by Kenya and approved by the United Nations last October.