Armed Gang Storms Main Prison and Frees Thousands of Prisoners in Haiti

Riots in Haiti. (Wikimedia Commons/Voice of America)

JAKARTA - Armed gangs stormed the main prison in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, the National Penitentiary of Haiti, causing a shootout followed by a mass escape of inmates at the prison on Saturday.

Most of the approximately 4,000 inmates held in the prison managed to escape, a local journalist told BBC News, as quoted on March 4.

Among those detained were gang members charged in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Violence in Haiti, the poorest country on the American continent, has worsened in recent years. The gang aiming to overthrow PM Ariel Henry controls 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.

The latest escalation in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister traveled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenyan-led multinational security force to Haiti.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed "Barbecue") announces a coordinated attack to eliminate him.

"All of us, the armed groups in the provincial cities and the armed groups in the capital, are united," said the former police officer, who is suspected of being behind several massacres in Port-au-Prince.

The wave of shooting left four police officers dead and five others injured. The French Embassy in Haiti advises against travel in and around the capital.

Haiti's police union asked the military to help reinforce the prison, but the compound was stormed on Saturday night.

On Sunday the prison doors were still open and there was no sign of officers, Reuters reported. Three inmates who tried to escape lay dead in the yard, the report said.

A volunteer worker at the prison told the news agency that 99 prisoners, including former Colombian soldiers jailed for the assassination of President Moïse, chose to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in the crossfire.

It is known that violence has been rampant since the assassination of President Moïse. He has not been replaced and elections have not been held since 2016.

Under the political agreement, a general election would be held and the unelected Henry would step down on, February 7, but this did not happen.

In January, the UN said more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti last year, including killings, injuries, and kidnappings, more than double the number recorded in 2022.