House of Prime Minister of Haiti shot at; Ariel Henry was not at his residence

Dozens of armed police officers attacked the private residence of the Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, on Thursday, as part of a protest movement against the indifference of the authorities in the face of the death of more than a dozen agents at the hands of armed groups this month. During the attack on Henry’s residence, located in the Delmas 60 sector, in Port-au-Prince, material damage was recorded and loud shots were heard, while several vehicles had their windows broken, according to local media reports. The prime minister plans to return this Thursday from Argentina, where he participated on Tuesday in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

To prevent the plane landing that would bring him to the country, the protesters went to the Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince, where they erected barricades and burned tires, causing traffic to stop. Disgruntled police officers demonstrated in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Thursday, blocking roads and firing guns into the air to protest the gang killings of colleagues. Gangs have killed at least 10 officers in the past week; another is missing and one more has serious gunshot wounds, according to the Haitian National Police.

The naked, bloodied bodies of six officers lie on the ground, their weapons across their chests, in a video obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by police Thursday. According to police, the bodies are still in the possession of the gang that murdered them, known as the Gan Grif. The killings are just the latest example of escalating violence in the Caribbean nation, which has been plagued by gang warfare and political chaos since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021.

His unelected successor has asked the UN to lead a military intervention, but no country is willing to intervene on the ground.