2024-03-07 03:18:14
Haiti is experiencing a sharp escalation of violence. Armed criminal groups attacked the National Police Academy this Tuesday, located in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
According to Lionel Lazarre, from the Haitian Police union, cited by AFP, the attackers were repelled after the rapid arrival of reinforcements at the academy, which houses more than 800 cadets.
The assailants lit several bonfires around the prison before forcibly entering it, and even used surveillance drones to support the advance on the prison, according to Haitian media.
«We ask all the police in the capital to prepare cars, weapons and ammunition; “If the bandits take over the National Penitentiary, this will be over and no one will be saved in the capital because the Port-au-Prince Police will not be able to control anything,” the union said in a message published in Creole on the social network X.
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Later this Sunday night the government declared a curfew in Port-au-Prince, “Due to the deterioration of security, particularly in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, characterized by criminal acts of increasingly violent perpetration by gangs.” armed,” as indicated in a statement.
The brutal attacks by criminal gangs come while Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry is abroad. He made an official visit to Kenya to sign an agreement to send Kenyan police to Haiti, as part of a UN-supported mission.
Previously, heavily armed gangs attempted on Monday to take control of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, located in the capital. The violent attacks also caused almost 100% of the prisoners in the country’s main prison, the Port-au-Prince National Penitentiary, to be released last Saturday.
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