Heavy gunfire was seen on Friday near Haiti’s national palace in its capital of Port-au-Prince, according to reports by news agency EFE, as political turmoil sparked by prime minister Ariel Henry’s absence continued.
Haiti entered a state of emergency last Sunday after fighting escalated, armed gangs broke inmates out of prison and an estimated 10,000 people were displaced while Henry was in Kenya seeking a deal for an international force to fight Haiti’s gangs.
US ABC News reported that gangs had launched a large-scale assault against multiple government buildings in or near downtown Port-au-Prince early on Friday evening, according to a law enforcement source.
The source said the attack was coordinated and swift, with different groups simultaneously targeting multiple government buildings including the presidential palace, the interior ministry and a police headquarters for Haiti’s western district, which includes Port-au-Prince.
The broadcaster said people witnessed intense gunfire and heard large explosions, and that hundreds fled the area as the gangs engaged in fierce battles against police.
Two police stations near the national palace were attacked, CNN reported.
Henry, who is also acting president, was in Kenya when the gang onslaught began on 29 February and has been unable to return to Port-au-Prince. The US earlier this week called on him to expedite a political transition as armed gangs seek his ouster.
A special forces police officer turned gang kingpin called Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier has said the mission of the criminal groups is to overthrow Haiti’s unpopular prime minister and liberate the country’s 11.7 million citizens from what he calls his anti-democratic rule.
On Friday, Guy Philippe, who helped lead a coup in Haiti in 2004 and returned to the Caribbean island last year after serving a prison sentence in the US, demanded that Henry step down and said he wanted to become president.
“He should resign,” Philippe, a 56-year-old former police chief, said in an interview with Reuters. “I think he should stay where he is now … and let Haitians decide their fate.”
Philippe said he would seek to implement an amnesty for gang leaders were he to take power.
Henry’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2004, Philippe was one of the main leaders in the successful overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He won a Senate seat in 2016 but was arrested and extradited to the US before he could be sworn in.
Philippe was deported from the US to Haiti in November after serving six years of a prison sentence for money laundering derived from drug trafficking.
Since his return to Haiti, Philippe has traveled the country rallying support and calling for the government to step down.
Reuters contributed to this report
