Haiti’s international airport has closed for the second time this year after suspected gang gunfire struck two US passenger planes. The UN has also paused helicopter landings, while the US embassy has warned citizens to avoid travel within the country due to unpredictable violence. Haiti’s instability, driven by rampant gang violence, has displaced over 700,000 people and claimed nearly 4,000 lives this year. Further evidence of the country’s fragility came with the ousting on 11 November of interim prime minister Garry Conille, who has been replaced by businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. Many key transportation routes remain under the control of gangs who regularly kidnap bus passengers and truck drivers: many Port-au-Prince residents have no safe way out of the city. In October almost a hundred people were killed in a massacre by gang members sixty miles from the capital.
Haiti: airport closed, new prime minister, gang violence
Written by David Fletcher 15 Nov 2024Additional Info
- Pray: for peace, safety, and God’s intervention in Haiti’s governance and security. (Psalm 9:9)
- More: www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/12/haiti-completely-isolated-gunfire-closes-main-airport-again