Armed gang members operating in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area attacked the city’s civil prison on the night of March 2/3.
Hundreds of inmates, including dangerous criminals, reportedly managed to escape.
The attacks were led by the fearsome gang leader Johnson André, better known by his nickname IZO.
He is said to have used state-of-the-art technology, including drones, to carry out the attack.
Several videos circulating on social networks show the assaults by armed bandits.
Attacks were also carried out on the penitentiary center in Croix-des-Bouquets, a commune in north-eastern Haiti.
Prisoners have also reportedly escaped from this facility.
For the moment, the Haitian National Police has not yet published any casualty figures.
The gunmen had announced their attack a few days earlier, but no measures had been taken to protect the country’s largest prison.
Several police stations and police posts were set on fire a few days before the attacks on the national penitentiary. These included the Bon Repos police station and the Delmas 3 and Portail Leogane sub-stations.
At least 5 police officers were killed at the Bon Repos police station, north of Port-au-Prince, on February 29.
All these events occurred while de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry and his Minister of Justice were out of the country to mobilize support for the deployment of the multinational mission.
It should be recalled that the national police had deployed major resources on February 7, 2024 to thwart the movement of agents of the Protected Areas Rescue Brigade (BSAP). Several agents of this force were killed by the PHN during this movement aimed at demanding the departure of de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who shows no willingness or ability to address the security situation.
These movements of tension usually occur when Prime Minister Ariel Henry is out of the country, trying to convince the international community to deploy troops to Haiti as quickly as possible.
Almost 32 months after being installed by a CORE GROUP tweet, no elections have been held.
At a meeting with leaders of CARICOM member countries, Prime Minister Ariel Henry expressed his intention to organize elections in August 2025. This would give him almost 5 years in power if he were to hand over the reins in February 2026.