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Haiti police regain control of station seized by gangs

Haitian Army personnel patrol the Champs de Mars neighborhood, following the arrival of the first contingent of Kenyan police as part of a peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean country, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti June 30, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo)

By Mary Wambui | Wednesday, July 3, 2024

The attack happened days after Kenyan police officers deployed to Haiti to help the country recover from the jaws of armed criminal gangs arrived.

Haitian police officers on Tuesday regained control of Gressier Police Station, located in the capital Port-au-Prince, which had been the target of armed gangs in recent months.

According to Radio RFM 104.9, which quoted Lionel Lazarre, the spokesperson of a police union, the police station had last been attacked on Sunday in an assault that claimed the lives of an unknown number of civilians.

"The armed groups burned houses in the area, causing panic within the community," he said, adding that one bus driver was attacked and then shot by gunmen while he was working.

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The attack happened days after the first batch of Kenyan police officers deployed to Haiti to help the country recover from the jaws of armed criminal gangs arrived.

"Videos posted on social media showed armed men storming the police station as they railed against Haiti's government and the Kenyan police officers. They also showed a fire blazing in front of the station, which gunmen mostly destroyed," AFP said in a report on the incident.

Police patrol the streets of Port-au-Prince amid rampant gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo

A similar attack occurred in May when heavily armed gangs took over control of the station, causing widespread panic as the gangs further spread into the community surrounding the station.

"Gangs have raided more than two dozen police stations in Port-au-Prince and assaulted since late February when they launched coordinated attacks targeting critical state infrastructure," the AFP noted.

More than 200 of the 400 first group of Kenyan police arrived in Haiti on June 25, with the second batch expected to arrive in the Caribbean country soon.

The officers that count as the initial batch of the 2500-United Nations-approved member force, comprising officers from Kenya as the lead nation, Chile, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Mauritius, began their operations by patrolling the streets of the capital city and the main port and conducting patrols alongside local police officers.

Haitian National Police SWAT unit and Kenyan Police patrol through a neighbourhood after the arrival of the first contingent of Kenyan police as part of a peacekeeping mission, in Port-au-Prince, on June 28, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo)