Sporadic gunfire on Friday night rang out in Port-au-Prince, as residents desperately sought shelter amid a recent explosion of gang violence in the Haitian capital.
Humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate, and aid groups and non-governmental organizations (NGO) have warned of a shortage of medical resources and food supplies after armed groups unleashed widespread chaos on the long-troubled Caribbean nation last week.
Gunshots were heard throughout the capital late on Friday, especially concentrated in the southwestern districts of Turgeau, Pacot, Lalue and Canape-Vert, an Agence-France Presse journalist said.
Photo: AP
Residents scrambled to take shelter, with witnesses saying they had seen clashes “between police officers and bandits” as gangs apparently tried to commandeer police stations in the city center.
Criminal groups — which already control much of Port-au-Prince, as well as roads leading to the rest of the country — have attacked key infrastructure in the past few days, including two prisons, allowing the majority of 3,800 inmates to escape.
The gangs, along with some ordinary Haitians, are seeking the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was due to leave office last month, but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.
On Thursday, the government issued a month-long state of emergency for the western region, which includes the capital, and decreed a nighttime curfew until tomorrow.
Port-au-Prince resident Fabiola Sanon said that her 32-year-old husband, James Sanon, was killed in the unrest.
He used to wake up early to earn money for their son’s breakfast before taking him to school, she said.
“James has never been in conflict with anyone,” she said. “He’s a simple cigarette salesman.”
Haiti’s airport remained closed on Friday, while the main port — a key source for food imports — cited instances of looting since it suspended services on Thursday, despite efforts to set up a security perimeter.
“If we cannot access those containers [full of food], Haiti will go hungry soon,” the NGO Mercy Corps said in a statement.
The Caribbean Community, an alliance of Caribbean nations also known as CARICOM, on Friday summoned envoys from the US, France, Canada and the UN to a meeting tomorrow in Jamaica to discuss the outbreak of violence.
The UN on Friday warned that thousands of people, especially pregnant women, are in danger of losing access to vital healthcare as the crisis drags on.
“If greater Port-au-Prince remains at a standstill in the coming weeks, almost 3,000 pregnant women could be denied access to essential health care, and almost 450 could face life-threatening obstetric complications if they do not receive medical assistance,” the UN’s office in Haiti said in a statement.
The body also warned that more than 500 sexual violence survivors could be without medical care by the end of this month if conditions do not improve.
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