The target of the gangs’ attack appears to have been the prison, which housed 516 inmates, according to the Port-au-Prince based human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere/Eyes Wide Open Foundation.

Gunmen have set fire to police stations, forced the closure of Haiti’s main international airport and stormed the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

The violence has overwhelmed Haiti’s National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is struggling in its fight against gangs as it remains underfunded and under-resourced.

Senior UN officials warn that Haiti’s gangs have gained “near-total control” of the capital, and authorities are unable to stop escalating violence across the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The violence has overwhelmed Haiti’s National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is struggling in its fight against gangs as it remains underfunded and under-resourced.

Haiti has not had a president since former President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021, with gangs becoming increasingly powerful in the aftermath.

The violence has overwhelmed Haiti’s National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is struggling in its fight against gangs as it remains underfunded and under-resourced.

The violence has overwhelmed Haiti’s National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is struggling in its fight against gangs as it remains underfunded and under-resourced.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. on Friday officially designated a powerful gang coalition in Haiti as a foreign terrorist organization, raising concerns the move could deepen the country ...