Crisis state: Deadly attack on Haiti’s general hospital

Suspected gang members opened fire on the largest hospital in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, killing at least three people, according to media reports. Accordingly, the victims were two journalists and a police officer who went to an event on Tuesday (local time) for the planned reopening of the Haiti State University Hospital.

The interim government of the Caribbean state confirmed on Platform X that there were dead and injured. “This heinous act, directed against an institution dedicated to health and life, is an unacceptable act of aggression against the foundations of our society,” it said.

Gang violence led to the clinic’s closure

Haiti has suffered for years from violence by heavily armed gangs, which largely have Port-au-Prince under their control. President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021 under circumstances that are still not fully understood. An escalation in gang violence prevented then-interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning from a trip abroad in March and forced him to resign. Alix Fils-Aimé is currently acting as interim prime minister. The State University Hospital, also known as the General Hospital, was forced to close due to the violence.

An international security mission led by Kenya, as part of which several hundred foreign emergency services have gone to Haiti since June, has not yet been able to ensure security. According to a UN report on Monday, gang members killed at least 207 people between December 6 and 11 alone in Cité Soleil, a particularly poor part of the capital.