As a new wave of gang violence rages through the struggling Caribbean nation, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines suspended flights to Haiti this week, according to sources at the airport’s international terminal. JetBlue has kept its direct flight from New York City, but both US airlines have not publicly disclosed the reason for the suspension, even though gang violence has recently increased in Haiti in several neighborhoods in the capital and other areas.
According to a UN report issued on Wednesday, assaults in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan region have resulted in the displacement of over 10,000 persons in the last week.
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Years of escalating political, humanitarian, and security issues have plagued Haiti, but early this year, strong-armed gangs started coordinated attacks that resulted in the resignation of the country’s unelected prime minister.
After that, an interim government was established, and an international assistance mission headed by Kenya was sent to support Haiti’s police force, though it hasn’t yet grown to its full size.
Violence has continued to rise as police have struggled to retake control of the capital’s vast gang-controlled areas.
At least two women, one of whom was eight months pregnant, were killed in attacks in the southern Solino area of the city earlier this week, which forced hundreds to flee, according to officials.
Following a significant gang attack in early October in the central village of Pont-Sonde that left 115 citizens dead and several more injured, there was more bloodshed.
This week, the US embassy also said that gangs had fired at two of its armored vehicles, although no one was hurt.
Additionally, a helicopter belonging to the United Nations organization World Food Program (WFP) was struck by gunfire Thursday while it was hovering above Port-au-Prince.
All eighteen passengers on board were unharmed in the safe landing.
WFP Haiti Director Waanja Kaaria stated during a press conference on October 25, 2024, “Uncertainty in Haiti continues while the ramping violence of armed groups and food insecurity continues to plant Haiti into a spiral crisis that requires urgent attention.”
