Haitian authorities are struggling to counter the rise of powerful armed gangs and accountability for violence is rare.
Gunmen in Haiti opened fire on a group of journalists who had gathered to cover the reopening of the capital’s largest public hospital.
While authorities did not provide any information about the victims of the attack on Tuesday, Reuters news agency reported that two journalists and a police officer were killed, citing a journalist who witnessed the attack and asked not to be named .
“We express our condolences to all the victims’ families, especially the PNH (Haiti National Police) and all journalist associations,” Haiti’s Transitional Presidency Council said in a social media post.
“We guarantee you that this act will not remain without consequences.”
The attack is the latest to rock Haiti, where ongoing political and economic instability has contributed to a rise in violence armed gangs who have become more powerful since the assassination of the former president Jovenel Moise in 2021.
The island nation’s law enforcement agencies have struggled to counter the criminal groups that have exercised control over an estimated 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where there has been widespread violence against civilians and unrest vital services.
One facility forced to close in March was General Hospital, the country’s largest public hospital. As Reuters reported, journalists had gathered on Tuesday morning to cover the reopening of the facility when gunmen opened fire at around 11 a.m. (4 p.m. GMT).
In July, government officials gathered to reopen the hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince, but that incident also resulted in gunfire that forced former Prime Minister Garry Conille to flee.
An unconfirmed video posted online on Tuesday appears to show three journalists lying wounded on the floor of the building. A recent United Nations report states that only 24 percent of them Health facilities in the Port-au-Prince area are in operation.
Johnson “Izo” Andre, a powerful coalition gang leader known as Viv Ansanm, posted a video on social media Tuesday taking credit for the attack.
