Haiti’s Main Airport Shuts Down as Gang Violence Surges and a New Prime Minister Is Sworn In

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti’s international airport shut down on Monday after gangs opened fire at a commercial flight landing in Port-Au-Prince, prompting some airlines to temporarily suspend operations as country swore in a new interim prime minister who promised to restore peace.

Spirit Airlines flight heed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Port-Au-Prince was just hundreds of feet from landing in Haiti’s capital when gangs shot at plane striking a flight attendant, who suffered mir injuries, according to airline, U.S. Embassy and flight tracking data. flight was diverted and landed in Dominican Republic.

Photos and videos obtained by Associated Press show bullet holes dotting interior of a plane.

shooting appeared to be part of what U.S. Embassy called “gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince which may include armed violence, and disruptions to ros, ports, and airports.” Spirit, JetBlue and American Airlines said Monday y were canceling flights to and from Haiti.

In or parts of Haiti’s capital, firefights between gangs and police broke out. Rounds of gunfire echoed through streets as heavily armed officers ducked behind walls and civilians ran in terror. In or upper class areas, gangs set fire to homes. Schools closed as panic spre in a number of areas.
turmoil comes a day after a council meant to reestablish democratic order in Caribbean nation fired interim prime minister Garry Conille, replacing him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. council has been marked by infighting and three members were recently accused of corruption.

As he was sworn in, Fils-Aimé said his top priorities were to restore peace to crisis-stricken nation and hold elections, which haven’t been held in Haiti since 2016.

“re is a lot to be done to bring back hope” he said before a room of suit-cl diplomats and security officials. “I’m deeply sorry for people ... that have been victimized, forced to leave everything y own.”

country has seen weeks of political chaos, which observers warned could result in even more violence in a place where bloodshed has become new rmal. country’s slate of gangs have long capitalized on political turmoil to make power grabs, shutting down airports, shipping ports and stirring chaos.

United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of capital of Port-au-Prince, while a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Louis-Henri Mars, executive director of Lakou Lapè, an organization working on peace building in violent areas of Haiti, said political fighting has “allowed gangs to have more freedom to attack more neighborhoods in city and expand ir control of Port-au-Prince.” Civilians, he fears, will suffer consequences.

“re will be more lives lost, more internal displacement, and more hunger in a country where half population is on brink of starvation,” he said.

transitional council was established in April, tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime minister and Cabinet with hope that it would help quell violence, which exploded after Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021.

council was meant to pave way to democratic elections, but it has been plagued with politics and infighting, and has long been at odds with Conille, interim prime minister y hand picked six months ago, who y fired yesterday. Gangs have capitalized on that power vacuum to make ir own power grabs.

Conille railed against council’s decision to fire him, calling it an illegal overreach of ir powers.

“This resolution, taken outside of any legal and constitutional framework, raises serious concerns about its legitimacy and its repercussions on future of our country,” he wrote in a letter.

Organizations including Organization of American States tried and failed last week to mediate disagreements in an attempt to save fragile transition.

(This story is t edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed)