PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Overnight, gangs launched a brazen attack on a police station near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, escalating security concerns in the violence-plagued nation.
According to Lionel Lazarre of the Haitian police union, the targeted station is situated in Gressier, south of the capital.
Videos circulated on social media depicted armed civilians inside the police facility, with several vehicles set ablaze in the parking lot. Local authorities, unable to ascertain the extent of injuries, were overwhelmed by the assault.
Witnesses reported hours-long clashes, forcing residents to flee their homes due to the escalating violence. Haiti’s governance vacuum, exacerbated by President Jovenel Moise’s assassination in 2021 and the absence of a functioning parliament, has left the nation vulnerable to increased gang activity.
Gangs now reportedly control 25 police stations and branches, posing a significant challenge to the newly formed transitional ruling council’s efforts to establish authority amid ongoing turmoil.
