Reports of gunfire near the Prime Minister’s residence in Haiti after a police rampage in the capital, Haiti

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Disgruntled police officers swarmed the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, blocking roads and forcing the country’s main airport where they briefly prevented Prime Minister Ariel Henri from leaving. Heavy gunfire was later reported near his official residence.

The police are protesting the killing of officers by Haitian gangs. At least 10 officers have been killed in the past week; The Haitian National Police said one was missing and another seriously injured.

The killings are the latest example of the surge in violence in the Caribbean nation, which has been reeling from gang wars and political chaos following the assassination of President Jovenel Moss in 2021. His unelected successor has requested international military intervention to fight the gangs, but no country has been willing to put soldiers on the ground. .

The deaths angered members of the Phantom 509, an armed group of current and former police officers who violently demanded better conditions for the officers.

A Reuters witness said that plainclothes protesters who identified themselves as policemen first attacked the official residence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, and at one point broke down one of the gates outside his house. Then they flooded the airport when Henry was returning from a trip to Argentina.

Temporarily stuck at the airport, Henry was unable to leave, but returned to his residence in Port-au-Prince later on Thursday, followed by police protesters. A Reuters witness heard heavy gunfire near his house.

Earlier in the day, dozens of policemen paraded around the city, many of them wearing headscarves along with police uniforms, bulletproof vests, rifles and automatic weapons. They commandeered buses to block roads and set tires on fire across the city, sending smoke billowing into the streets.

Many called for a tougher crackdown on the gangs and called for an end to Henri’s current government, which many Haitians consider illegitimate.

“If they are killing police officers, then me as a citizen, what should I do?” A protester in a mask yelled at an Associated Press camera. “The police are second only to God and we will stand behind them.”

Local media reported that armed men robbed foreign passengers in the parking lot of the city’s airport.

One video filmed by local media showed a group of men, some wearing T-shirts with the word “police” written on them, arguing furiously with uniformed officers at the airport and then appearing to walk past the officers without resistance.

Video recorded by local Haitian media shows empty streets and closed businesses on a major thoroughfare in Port-au-Prince where the rebel group passed.

Police anger was ignited by a video clip circulating on social media showing the naked, bloodstained bodies of six officers stretched out on the dirt with their rifles resting on their chests. Police said the gang that killed them, known as Jean Greif, was still carrying the bodies.

In addition to the bodies displayed by the gang, a number of officers were killed last week in a clash with gangs in a neighborhood once considered relatively safe.

The Haitian National Police expressed its condolences to the families and colleagues of the slain officers, and said it “prays for peace and calls on police officers to come together to provide an institutional response to the various criminal organizations terrorizing the Haitian people.”

The United Nations estimates that 60% of Port-au-Prince is controlled by gangs. On the streets of the capital, Haitians say it’s more than 100%.

This week, the UN Special Envoy for Haiti urged the US and Canadian governments to lead an international armed force to help Haiti fight the gangs. Meanwhile, the Haitian police are demanding more resources.

Some on the streets said they would continue to protest.

“The movement will continue, we can’t allow the police to kill like this,” said a masked man in police uniform and holding a gun who asked not to be identified. “We can do the job if they give us the ammunition.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

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