The main port in Haiti has announced a halt in its operations citing sabotage and vandalism amidst escalating violence and disorder in the capital city. Reports from local media indicate that armed individuals raided the port in Port-au-Prince, stealing from containers.
These incidents come in the wake of gang assaults on the airport, police facilities, and correctional facilities throughout the week. The attacks are part of a broader movement aiming for the ousting of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The initial three-day state of emergency has been prolonged for an additional month. Over 20 trucks containing crucial equipment, medical supplies, and food are stranded at the port, as reported by the UN’s World Food Programme. The organization has halted its maritime transportation service due to the prevailing “insecurity” conditions.
Amid the ongoing turmoil in the violence-ridden city, the gangs intensified their assaults while Mr. Henry was away attending a regional summit last week. Mr. Henry’s efforts to return to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday were thwarted, leading him to land in the US territory of Puerto Rico instead.
The Haitian capital’s international airport was shut down as soldiers repelled gunmen’s efforts to take control of it, preventing Mr. Henry from landing there. Civil aviation authorities in the neighbouring Dominican Republic also turned the prime minister’s plane away, saying that they had not been provided with the necessary flight plan.
Mr Henry has not given any public statements since he visited Kenya, where he met President William Ruto to salvage a deal for the east African country to lead a multi-national force to help restore order in Haiti. The two leaders signed a reciprocal agreement which paves the way for 2,000 Kenyan police officers to be deployed to Haiti.
Meanwhile, several Kenyan police officers who had volunteered for the deployment have opted out for their safety. Gangs in Port-au-Prince have taken advantage of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s absence to unleash a series of co-ordinated attacks.
Among their targets was the airport – which they want to control to prevent Mr Henry from flying back in – and two prisons, from which they freed thousands of inmates.
