Haiti Slide Into Chaos as Gangs Target Peaceful Communities, Days After PM Steps Down Over Violence

Port-Au-Prince: Days after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry stepped down from his post over rising gang violence, armed gangs on Wednesday launched a series of fresh attacks across once-peaceful communities near the Haitian capital. According to AP,  there were five bodies lying across the suburban town with gangs blocking the exits of a lot of areas. As people frantically reached out for help amid incessant firing, there was no one receive their calls as the police force remains almost depleted and helpless in front of the armed gangs.

"When I woke up to go to work, I found I could not leave because the neighbourhood was in the hand of the bandits," said Samuel Orelus. "They were about 30 men with heavy weapons. If the neighbourhood had mobilized, we could have destroyed them, but they were heavily armed, and there was nothing we could do." By Wednesday afternoon, another victim had been reported: a police officer killed in broad daylight in a Port-au-Prince neighbourhood known as Delmas 72, according to the SYNAPOHA police union.

As the attacks continued, the US State Department announced Wednesday that it had completed its first evacuation of American citizens from Port-au-Prince. More than 15 Americans were airlifted to neighbouring Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

More than 30 US citizens will be able to leave Port-au-Prince daily aboard the US government-organised helicopter flights, the agency said.

"We will continue to monitor demand from US citizens for assistance in departing Haiti on a real-time basis," the department said.

On Sunday, the agency evacuated more than 30 US citizens from the coastal city of Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti to Miami International Airport.

"We hope that conditions will allow a return of commercial means for people to travel from Haiti soon. We and the international community and the Haitian authorities are working for that to become a reality," the State Department said.

Also on Wednesday, a plane chartered by the Florida Department of Emergency Management evacuated 14 Florida residents, including children, out of Haiti, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the state agency, at an airport in Sanford, Florida where the passengers were expected to land.

More than 300 Floridians are in Haiti, and the Florida-sponsored operation was working on getting them out on future flights despite bureaucratic obstacles from the US government. and safety threats in Haiti, Guthrie said at a news conference, where he was accompanied by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"We understand there are people really in danger right now who are fellow Floridians," DeSantis said.

Wednesday's attacks in parts of Port-au-Prince came two days after gangs went on a rampage through the upscale neighbourhoods of Laboule and Thomassin in Pétion-Ville, with at least a dozen people killed.

The violence forced the closure of banks, schools and businesses across Pétion-Ville, which until now had been largely spared from the attacks that gangs launched on February 29.

Gunmen have set fire to police stations, forced the closure of Haiti's main international airport and stormed the country's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Scores of people have been killed and some 17,000 others have been left homeless amid the violence.

Meanwhile, Haitians await the possibility of new leadership as Caribbean officials rush to help form a transitional presidential council that will be responsible for appointing an interim prime minister and a council of ministers.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was locked out of Haiti when the airports closed, has said he will resign once the council is formed. 

(With inputs from agencies)