Massive gang riots in Haiti. US considers deployment of marines
US Marines may be deployed to Haiti (photo: flickr.com/us-pacific-command)
A massive gang riot has broken out in Haiti, accompanied by attacks on government buildings. Against the backdrop of the riots, the United States is considering the possibility of deploying an elite Marine Corps unit to Haiti.
A massive uprising of Haitian gangs began in the middle of last week. The most powerful gangs in Haiti united and launched a series of attacks on government institutions, which resulted in the acting Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, being unable to return from a foreign trip. A state of emergency was declared in Haiti due to the uprising.
According to ABC, citing its own sources, the latest attack by Haitian gangs was large-scale, coordinated, and fast. The gangs simultaneously attacked the presidential palace, the Ministry of the Interior, and the police headquarters of the western district of Haiti. About a dozen attackers were killed in the fighting.
The US State Department called on American citizens to leave Haiti, and the US Embassy posted a warning on its website.
At the same time, the Marine Corps Times learned from a US military official about Washington's intentions to send a Marine unit to Haiti. A Pentagon spokesperson told Marine Corps Times that the request came from the U.S. State Department.
"Deploying a FAST platoon is one option at the Department of Defense's disposal should the Department of State request assistance with security at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince," Major Mason Englehart, a spokesperson for Marine Corps Southern Command, told the newspaper.
Uprising in Haiti
Last week in Haiti, gangs seized two prisons and released 4000 prisoners, including those involved in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021. After that, the Haitian authorities declared a state of emergency and imposed a night curfew in the capital.
