POLICE in Haiti seized firearms and cleared a road block in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood controlled by notorious gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, in an operation that left several criminals dead, authorities said Saturday.
National police units entered the Delmas neighborhood Friday evening with the aim of clearing the road, Lionel Lazarre of Haiti’s police union said.
Several “bandits” were killed, he said. A police statement later said officers exchanged gunfire with men from Cherizier’s gang, confiscated firearms, and managed to clear the road block.
“New strategies are being implemented by the police with the aim of regaining certain areas occupied by these armed gangs in recent days, to facilitate the peaceful free movement of citizens,” the statement said, without providing details.
Another operation was underway on Saturday morning as law enforcement tried to regain control of the capital’s main port, where gangs had robbed several containers, sources at the port told AFP.
The port has been closed since March 7 due to violence.
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Haitians have been tense in recent days awaiting an announcement on the creation of a transitional governing body intended to return stability to the impoverished country, plagued by gang violence and left isolated from the outside world.
Some hope the transitional council can fill the void left by outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who left under pressure from attacks by gangs that control 80% of the capital.
But many oppose the upcoming creation of a transitional council, a move supported by Caribbean regional body CARICOM, the United Nations and the United States.
The country has a long and brutal history of foreign intervention, from a 20-year American occupation in the early 1900s to a deadly cholera outbreak linked to a UN peacekeeping mission in the 2010s. (AFP/Z-3)
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