Armed men attack police stations near National Palace as Haiti’s gang violence spirals

Two police stations near Haiti’s National Palace were attacked by armed individuals Friday night, as gang violence in the Caribbean nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince continued to spiral.

The Haitian capital has been gripped by a wave of highly coordinated gang attacks on law enforcement and state institutions in what gang leader Jimmy Cherizier has described as an attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s government.

Armed groups have burned down police stations and released thousands of inmates from two prisons, and Cherizier has warned of “a civil war that will end in genocide” if the prime minister does not step down.

The US State Department arranged for the evacuation of non-essential personnel from the US embassy overnight due to “heightened gang violence.” US Southern Command said in a statement Sunday the move was consistent with “standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide.”

“Our Embassy remains focused on advancing U.S. government efforts to support the Haitian people,” US Southern Command said, adding that the evacuation helps to “allow our Embassy mission operations to continue.”

President Joe Biden approved the operation, according to a National Security Council spokesperson, and remains “deeply concerned” about the situation.

Henry has had difficulty returning to the country since leaving for Kenya last week to sign an agreement for a Kenyan-led multinational mission to restore security back home.

On Friday, Haitian police union Synapoha encouraged all police officers to reinforce their police stations. “We need to stay united to not lose our symbol, the police. The leadership needs to put adequate support for all the units,” the union said.

The violence comes just a day after intruders broke into Port-au-Prince’s Caribbean Port Services (CPS) terminal, a major player in Haiti’s food import supply chain.

But the UN said Friday the police had been “able to push back coordinated gang attacks on key infrastructures, including the airport.”

“We remain deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating security situation amid ongoing gang violence and sporadic confrontations between heavily armed gangs and police forces in some parts of Port-au-Prince,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said.

The Haitian government has decreed a state of emergency will run until April 3 in the country’s West Region and the capital Port-au-Prince and a curfew will remain in force until March 10.

The chaos in Haiti has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in the past few days, adding to the more than 300,000 already displaced by gang violence.

The head of Doctors without Borders in Haiti said she is concerned about the civilian displacement, pointing to the lack of necessities.

Hospitals have been targeted by gangs. Only one public hospital is still operating in Port-au-Prince’s metropolitan area, according to an official from the country’s Civil Protection.

Pierre Espérance, Executive Director of NGO the Haitian Human Rights Defense Network, called Haiti’s situation “chaotic” with “no end in sight” and said the country had “completely collapsed.”

Canada said a protest lasting 90 minutes broke out in front of its embassy on Thursday, with a burning tire being thrown over the outside gate, while the US has said it’s looking into “contingency options” at its embassy.

CARICOM (the Caribbean Community and Common Market), a regional bloc of 25 countries which works on economic integration, security and social development, is to hold a meeting on Haiti in the Jamaican capital of Kingston on Monday, according to the UN.

Haiti is a member state, but it is unclear if Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry will be at the meeting.

Jim Rogers, Rafy Rivera, Michael Conte and Abel Alvarado contributed to the reporting.