PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Haiti’s police academy was attacked by an armed group on Tuesday, as the small Caribbean nation plunges into deeper isolation following an airport attack and a deadly prison breakout.
Lionel Lazarre of the Haitian Police Union said the attack on the academy, where more than 800 students are being trained, was repelled by the arrival of reinforcements.
The violence comes after thousands of residents were evacuated from the capital Port-au-Prince and the United Nations and the US government reiterated their concern over the crisis.
Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint International Airport has been hit hard by violence, including an attempted attack in which a police station was set on fire late Monday.
The troubled and impoverished Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with its neighbor, announced Tuesday it was suspending all flights to Haiti.
“Passenger and cargo air operations to and from the Republic of Haiti have been suspended with immediate effect,” the Civil Aviation Commission said in a statement.
Armed groups that control much of the country have been wreaking havoc for months, with attacks on strategic locations increasing since few days.
The gangs claim they want to topple Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was away on a weekend trip to Kenya to promote the deployment of a UN-backed multinational police force to stabilize Haiti. Henry’s current location is unknown.
A lack of security at the Port-au-Prince airport has prevented Henry from returning home since Tuesday, according to local media outlet Radio Tele Metronome.
Henry, who has been in power since 2021, was due to step down in February, but agreed with the opposition until new elections are held.
“Increasing violence”
In Henry’s absence, gangs stormed two prisons in Port-au-Prince, killing more than a dozen people and forcing thousands of inmates to flee.
In response, the government declared a state of emergency and extended the curfew until Wednesday.
The “escalation of violence” has prompted at least 15,000 evacuations in the worst-hit parts of the capital, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding that aid workers have begun distributing food and other essentials at three new sites for the displaced.
Dujarric told reporters in New York that the UN team had been unable to report casualties from the recent violence due to travel restrictions.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council has scheduled a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Haiti crisis. Haiti’s representative to the UN, Maria Isabel Salvador, will brief the council remotely.
Port-au-Prince, which had come to a virtual standstill, appeared to be returning to normal on Tuesday, although some streets were cordoned off with rubble built by residents to protect themselves.
Some transport services have resumed and shops have reopened, with long queues seen outside shops, banks and gas stations.
In Washington, the State Department again called for calm.
“We urge all actors to put the people of Haiti first, stop the violence and make the necessary concessions to allow for inclusive governance, free and fair elections and the restoration of democracy,” spokesman Matthew Miller told media. He, However, declined to address the whereabouts of Haiti’s prime minister.
