Haitian Police Shot Dead Four Mercenaries Who Killed President Jovenel Moise

Haiti is chaired by Jovenel Moise. (Instagram / @ jovenelmoise))

JAKARTA - Haitian security forces engaged in a fierce firefight with the assailant who killed President Jovenel Moise at his home and injured First Lady Martine Moise.

Police have killed four 'mercenaries' and arrested two more, Director General of Police Leon Charles said in televised comments late Wednesday, cited from Reuters Thursday, July 8.

"We blocked them on their way as they left the shooting site. Since then, we have been fighting with them", Charles said.

"They will be killed or captured", Charles continued, adding that security forces would not rest until they were all dealt with.

Moise, a 53-year-old former businessman was shot dead and his wife, Martine Moise, was seriously injured when heavily-armed killers stormed the couple's home in the hills above Port-au-Prince Wednesday, July 7 at around 1 a.m. local time.

Haiti's ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, told Reuters in an interview the gunmen were posing as US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents when they entered Moise's residence, which was guarded by non-uniformed troops.

The government declared a two-week state of emergency to help hunt down the killers, whom Edmond described as a group of "foreign mercenaries" and trained assassins.

The gunmen spoke English and Spanish, said interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who is taking over the leadership of the country, where the majority of the Caribbean nation's population speaks French or Haitian Creole.

"I call for calm. Everything is under control. This barbaric act will not go unpunished", Prime Minister Joseph said on television with Police Director General Charles.

Meanwhile, Martine Moise, wife of the late President Moise, is in a stable but critical condition and is likely to be sent to Miami, United States for further medical treatment.

"President Moise's wife, First Lady Martine Moise, has been hospitalized. Democracy and the Republic must win. The dark forces will lose", said Joseph.

To note, the late President of Haiti Jovenel Moise was promoted to office in 2017. In recent months, opposition leaders have demanded that he step down, arguing that his legal term ends in February 2021.

President Moise has ruled by decree for more than a year after Haiti failed to hold legislative elections and wanted to push for controversial constitutional reforms.