At least a dozen people have died following a nocturnal assault on the civil prison in Port-au-Prince by armed gangs, which allegedly freed numerous high-profile inmates during the raid on the facility.
Authorities have confirmed, around the prison perimeter, the bodies of at least ten victims, some of whom were mauled by dogs, as a night of violence unfolded with no immediate government response.
All signs point to an escalating death toll as Sunday progresses, in the wake of last night’s assault on the national penitentiary.
Extreme violence
On the streets, reports suggest that police, now seeming to regain control, have also recovered some corpses as the city grapples with the aftermath.
Haiti, which appeared calm this morning, endured moments of intense violence last night, marked by clashes between rival gangs and the police, and by armed groups breaching the civil prison, the largest in Port-au-Prince.
Social networks circulate videos showing the powerful gang leader of Village de Dieu, Izo, surveilling the Penitentiary and the National Palace through sophisticated drones.
According to accounts on social media, the next target of the armed groups would be the National Palace itself.
Coup attempt
Gangs are using social networks to reveal plans to seize control of all state institutions with the aim of overthrowing the government.
There is no information yet about the return to the country of Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, after he attended the Caricom summit in Guyana and later traveled to Kenya, where he discussed sending a multinational security mission to Haiti and obtained UN approval in October.
Last Friday, Kenya and Haiti signed a bilateral agreement in Nairobi to permit the deployment of a contingent of 1,000 police officers from that country as part of the security effort.
Since Thursday, violence has surged in Haiti, after the Bahamas prime minister, Phillip Davis, indicated that Haiti’s premier had committed to holding elections before August 31, 2025.