Gunfire as thousands protest in Haiti to denounce a surge in gang violence

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Gunfire erupted as thousands of protesters in Haiti clashed with police on Wednesday as they denounced a surge in gang violence and demanded that the government keep them safe.

At least a dozen heavily armed protesters opened fire on officers who responded outside the offices of the prime minister and the transitional presidential council. An AP journalist at the scene did not see anyone injured or killed.

It is the first major protest to hit the administration of Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, whom the council appointed as prime minister in November.

The whizzing bullets caused the crowd to flee in panic, with shoes, caps and sunglasses left strewn on the street.

The protest began peacefully. Some demonstrators brandished machetes while others clutched tree boughs or waved palm fronds as they weaved through the streets of Port-au-Prince, where schools, banks and other businesses remained closed.

Flaming tires blocked roads as protesters chanted, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go and get them out!”

One organizer, who covered his face and declined to give his name for fear of reprisal, said the purpose of the protest was to “take over the prime minister’s office and burn down the CPT,” referring to the offices of Haiti’s transitional presidential council.

Discontent and anger is spreading as gangs that already control 85% of Port-au-Prince pillage once-peaceful communities.

Recent gang violence has forced more than 60,000 people to flee their homes in one month alone, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.

“We have never observed such large number of people moving in this short time,” said Grégoire Goodstein, the organization’s chief in Haiti.

In a visit to Port-au-Prince in early March, William O’Neill, the U.N. human rights commissioner’s expert on Haiti, described the capital as “an open-air prison.”

“There is no safe way to enter or leave the capital except by helicopter,” he said. “Gangs are invading previously safe neighborhoods, killing, raping and burning houses, businesses, churches and schools.”

Gangs also have pillaged communities beyond Port-au-Prince.

On Monday, they attacked the city of Mirebalais in central Haiti and stormed a prison, releasing more than 500 inmates. The attack on Mirebalais and the nearby town of Saut d'Eau left more than 5,900 people homeless, according to an IOM report released Wednesday.

A recent U.N. report found that more than 4,200 people were reported killed across Haiti from July to February, and another 1,356 were injured.

O’Neill has called on the international community to do more to support a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is helping Haitian officers quell gang violence.

However, the mission only has about 40% of the 2,500 personnel envisioned and has struggled to hold back gangs.

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Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.