Marines in Haiti have been asked by the US to fly out their embassy workers because of the fighting between gangs.
In order to help fight the ongoing gang violence in Haiti, the US has sent troops, but those who aren’t needed are being pulled out of the area. On Sunday, airlifts began. During the airlifts, the US said “No Haitians were aboard the military craft” to dispel any rumors that they were helping the Haitian government get away from the chaos.
“This airlift of people into and out of the embassy is in line with how we normally increase security at embassies around the world,” officials said. However, they did say that thousands of Haitians were told to leave after the gang killings, but they did not say how many embassy staff they pulled out.
After four police officers were killed in a planned gang attack on February 29, these attacks began. Jimmy Chérizier, also known as Barbeque, is the leader of the gang that did the attacks. He admitted that he was in charge of them. He planned to lock up government workers and stop Prime Minister Ariel Henry from coming back.
Soon after the first attacks, a group of gangs broke into two of their biggest jails and freed almost 4,000 prisoners, which led to a state of emergency. An airport in the area was closed because of the strikes, which kept some people in the country.
Richard Phillips, a Canadian aid worker, was stuck in Haiti when the airports closed. “We’re really worried about where this is going.” “There will be chaos in the streets if the police force falls apart, and we could be here for a month or more,” he said.
“I’ve been shot at many times in Haiti, and my truck has bullet holes in it,” he said. I think I’m getting used to it. Other people, though, must be going through a lot of pain.”
Since Jovenel Moïse, Haiti’s last leader, was killed in 2021, the country has been through a lot of trouble. People are leaving the country because of the chaos caused by bloodshed and a lack of government control. Crime between gangs has been a problem for a long time. Last year, the level of crime in the country meant that polls had to be canceled.
