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Ariel Henry has been targeted by “bandits and terrorists,” according to his office.
Armed men tried to kill Haiti’s Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, during an event last Saturday to celebrate the country’s independence, government sources reported Monday.
The reported incident occurred while Henry was participating in a party in a church in the northern city of Gonaives.
Video images circulated online show the prime minister and his entourage crawling into their cars amid heavy gunfire.
The security situation has deteriorated significantly in Haiti since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise last July.
Henry vowed to end the powerful gangs blamed for a wave of kidnappings and to seize a large part of the nationwide distribution of gasoline, causing apparent shortages.
What is known
On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office said that “bandits and terrorists” were behind the assassination attempt, and that arrest warrants had been issued for the suspects.
Authorities accused the group of hiding behind walls to attack the prime minister’s motorcade and threaten the bishop by cordoning off the church, according to US agencies.
Local media reported that one person was killed and two others were wounded in an exchange of fire between the armed men and the security forces.
The attack is another blow to the fragile government led by Henry, who became the interim head of the state of Haiti two weeks after Moise’s assassination.
The circumstances of the assassination, believed to be the work of a group of mercenaries, are still unclear.
No date has been announced for the presidential elections.
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