By PIERRE-RICHARD LUXAMA (Associated Press)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — There was a lot of gunfire on Monday in the downtown area of Haiti’s capital as police fought with gang members near the National Palace for a few hours.
According to local media, at least one policeman was shot after he and other officers had to run away from an armored car that was later set on fire.
Loads of people were stuck because of the gunfire in downtown Port-au-Prince while many others escaped. One man said he was stuck for five hours until police saved him.
“The armored car helped us to leave the area,” he said.
A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not reply to messages asking for comment.
The most recent gunbattle happened more than a month after powerful gangs started attacking important government buildings. They have burned police stations, shot at the main international airport (which is closed) and broken into the country’s two biggest prisons, letting more than 4,000 prisoners out.
The violence has gone down somewhat in some areas since the attacks started on Feb. 29, but gunfire is still heard every day.
The U.N. has reported that at least 1,554 people were killed by March 22 and another 826 were injured.
The situation made Prime Minister Ariel Henry say last month that he would quit as soon as a temporary council is set up. Henry, who was on an official trip to Kenya to ask for help from the U.N., remains locked out of Haiti.
The planned temporary council of nine people, which hasn't been made official yet, will be in charge of choosing a new prime minister and council of ministers.
On Monday night, Haiti’s government issued a statement expressing worries about its creation, saying that the current council of ministers “stumbled over proven constitutional and legal questions. The Constitution and Haitian laws nowhere provide for this institution.”
The government said the ministers met on Monday to talk about the temporary council and shared the draft decree with legal experts so they “could finalize it and make it compliant with the laws of the republic.”
The current council of ministers also plans to create a joint commission to oversee the handover of responsibilities.
Haiti’s government noted that Henry received a list of nine people nominated to the temporary council on Friday and a draft decree establishing the council on Sunday.
