FAA bans flights to Haiti for 30 days, UN suspends flights after 2 planes were shot down by gangs

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it will ban U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot down two planes and the United Nations will temporarily suspend flights to Port-au-Prince and suspend humanitarian aid. announced that it would limit coming to the country.

Bullets hit a Spirit Airlines plane about to land in the nation’s capital on Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to close. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes in the interior of a plane. On Tuesday, JetBlue announced that its plane was also shot down while leaving Port-au-Prince on Monday.

The shots were: part of the wave of violence that broke out The country, grappling with gang violence, swore in its new prime minister after a politically turbulent period.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting the humanitarian operation during Monday’s violence. Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until November 18, and Dujarric said the UN would divert flights to the country’s second airport in the north, in the more peaceful city of Cap Haïtien.

Cutting off access to Port-au-Prince, the epicenter of the violence, is likely to be devastating as gangs choke life in the capital, pushing Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting off flights would mean “limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country.”

While the movement of 20 trucks carrying food and medical supplies in the south was postponed, the operation providing cash aid to a thousand people in the Carrefour region, where violence occurred, also had to be cancelled.

“We are doing our best to ensure the continuation of our operations in this challenging environment,” he said. “We call for an end to the escalating violence to ensure safe, continuous and unimpeded humanitarian access.”

On Tuesday, life in much of Haiti’s capital was frozen following a wave of violence. Heavily armed police checked passing public transport vehicles with armored vehicles outside the airport.

Schools were also closed, as were banks and government offices. The streets were eerily empty the day before as gangs and police were locked in a violent conflict; Very few people were passing by, except for a motorcycle with a man shot in the back.

In the afternoon heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets; It was a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haiti’s elites and strong pressure from the international community to restore peace, the country’s list of toxic gangs maintains a tight grip on much of the Caribbean. people.

Neither former interim prime minister Garry Conille nor newly appointed Alix Didier Fils-Aimé commented on the violence.

However, Luis Abinader, who as president of the neighboring Dominican Republic has taken harsh measures against Haitian immigration, described opening fire on the plane as terrorism.

“This was an act of terrorism; At the press conference, Abinader said that countries that follow and assist Haiti should declare these armed gangs as terrorist groups.

The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles due to lack of funding and personnel has led to calls for a UN peacekeeping mission.

The violence came after a transitional council tasked with restoring democratic order in Haiti, which has not held elections since 2016, decided to fire Conille, who has frequently been at odds with the council during his six-month tenure. The council quickly appointed businessman Fils-Aimé as the new interim prime minister.

Conille initially called the move illegal, but acknowledged Fils-Aimé’s appointment in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.

“(I) wish him success in fulfilling this duty. Unity and solidarity are of great importance for our country in this critical period. Long live Haiti!” he wrote.

Fils-Aimé promised to work with international partners to restore peace and organize long-awaited elections; His predecessor also made this promise.

But many Haitians like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre have little taste for political conflict, and experts say that gives gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.

Jean-Pierre was among those who took to the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the bananas, carrots, cabbage and potatoes he carried in a basket on his head. He said he had no choice, the only way he could feed his children was by selling.

“What good is a new prime minister if there is no security, if I cannot move freely and sell my goods?” he said, pointing to the vegetable basket. “This is my bank account. This is what my family depends on.”

This was a disappointment that worried international actors, such as the UN and the United States, who had been pushing for a peaceful solution in Haiti.

On Tuesday, the US State Department complained that Conille and the council had “failed to move forward constructively” and called on Fils-Aimé and the council to present a clear action plan outlining a shared vision of how to reduce violence and reduce violence. The way elections are held to “prevent further stalemate”.

“The immediate and pressing needs of the Haitian people compel the transitional government to prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors,” he wrote in a statement.

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Associated Press journalist David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas and Edith Lederer from the United Nations.