Haitian gangs storm prison and free 4,000 prisoners
4 March 2024 10:56
Armed gangs stormed a prison in Port-au-Prince on Sunday and released about 4,000 prisoners, Kommersant Ukrainsky 
citing the BBC.
The government said that the bandits had seized two prisons – one in the capital and the other in Croix de Bouquets. No security officers are still visible in the courtyard of the capital’s prison, but several dead bodies of prisoners who were unlucky enough to escape are lying there. In response to the attacks, the government declared a state of emergency and a curfew.
The gang leaders claim that they want to dismiss the current Prime Minister Ariel Henri.
Violence in Haiti was particularly widespread in 2021, when then-President Moise was shot dead in Port-au-Prince on the night of 7 July. Since then, his duties have been performed by the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henri, who was not elected. There are many armed political groups in Haiti that consider Henri illegitimate.
Disagreements between them and the current government escalated after Henri travelled to Kenya last Thursday to discuss sending an international security force to Haiti. One of the gang leaders, Jimmy Cherise (nicknamed “Barbecue”), announced a coordinated attack to eliminate the politician.
“We are all united, the armed groups in the provincial cities and the armed groups in the capital,”
– said a former police officer believed to be involved in several massacres in Port-au-Prince.
Gangs currently control about 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince’s territory.
