Five killed in clashes with police as protests rock Haiti
Al Jazeera
Five armed environmental protection agents were killed in clashes with police near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as violent protests seeking the removal of Prime Minister Ariel Henry paralysed the country.
Haiti has been engulfed in unrest since Monday, with thousands of people in the city and the rest of the country demanding that Henry step down in line with a political agreement forged in 2022.
A police source said the five agents of the National Agency for Protected Areas (BSAP), an armed government bureau now in open rebellion, had been shot on Wednesday after refusing to drop their weapons and firing in the direction of police. Three other members of the agency were arrested.
According to an agreement concluded in December 2022 following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise a year earlier, Henry was supposed to hold elections and then cede power to newly elected officials on February 7, 2024.
But Henry has remained in power, with an aide saying the prime minister intends to form a government of national unity.