PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) 鈥 A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti鈥檚 police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
Armed men raided the coastal community of Gressier in the western tip of Port-au-Prince late Friday, injuring people, burning cars and attacking homes and other infrastructure as scores of people fled into the nearby mountains following a barrage of gunfire overnight.
It was not immediately known if anyone died.
Videos posted on social media showed people fleeing into the early dawn balancing bags and suitcases on their heads as men clad in sandals and carrying heavy weapons celebrated with gunfire.
鈥淭he town is ours,鈥 said one man who filmed himself with others who were armed, noting they were in Gressier. 鈥淲e have no limits.鈥
The attack comes roughly a week after forced more than 3,700 people to flee their homes.
鈥淭he situation is critical and catastrophic,鈥 Garry Jean-Baptiste, a spokesman for the SPNH-17 police union, told The Associated Press.
He called Frantz Elb茅, director of Haiti鈥檚 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Police, incapable and incompetent: 鈥淢onsieur Elb茅 has failed.鈥
Jean-Baptiste said the union wants to demand Elb茅鈥檚 resignation and order justice officials to launch an investigation into the crisis.
鈥淧olice continue to lose their premises and equipment and officers,鈥 he said, adding that at least 30 police stations and substations have been attacked and burned in recent months.
He also accused Elb茅 and other high-ranking officials of being complicit with gangs.
Elb茅 did not immediately return a message for comment.
Jean-Baptiste said the officer who was stationed in Gressier 鈥渞esisted for a while鈥 but was unable to stave off the gang attack given a lack of staff and resources.
鈥淭he police could not prevent the worst,鈥 he said.
Jean-Baptiste said the attack was planned by gunmen who came from the neighboring communities of Village de Dieu, Martissant and Mariani.
Gressier is in an area controlled by Renel Destina. Best known as 鈥淭i Lapli," he is a leader of the Grand Ravine gang and considered a key ally of Izo, another powerful gang leader, according to the U.N.
The Grand Ravine gang has some 300 members and is accused of killings, kidnappings, rapes and other crimes.
Those fleeing Gressier now join more than 360,000 other Haitians who have been forced to abandon their homes as gangs raze communities in rival territories to control more land. , including schools and government buildings abandoned due to gang violence.
, when gangs launched coordinated attacks. Gunmen have burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed since March 4 and raided Haiti鈥檚 two biggest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
Veteran politician Andr茅 Michel wrote on the social media platform X that the most recent attack targeting Gressier shows 鈥淗aiti will not be able to get out from under the gangs without an international force. 鈥 We will not be able to secure the country ourselves.鈥
to Haiti has been repeatedly delayed, although some believe the first officers might arrive in late May.
Scores of U.S. military planes have been landing at the shuttered airport in Port-au-Prince in recent weeks, carrying civilian contractors, life-saving supplies, building materials and heavy equipment ahead of the anticipated arrival of a multinational mission.
