Haiti police kill ‘mercenaries’ in hunt for President Moise’s assassins
- Haitian police kill four suspects, detain two over murder of President Jovenel Moise in his home
- Killers posed as US Drug Enforcement Administration agents, spoke Spanish and English
Police did not identify the suspects or say what their motives were for the gun attack on Moise and his wife Martine, who survived, at their private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince in the early hours of Wednesday.
Police chief Leon Charles said there were still more members of the hit squad at large.
“As I speak, the police are engaged in battle with these assailants,” he said late Wednesday. “We are chasing them so that either in the exchange of fire they will be killed or we will apprehend them.”
With the UN Security Council scrambling to hold an emergency meeting, set for Thursday, interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph declared a national “state of siege” and said he was now in charge of the country.
The airport was closed in Port-au-Prince, but witnesses said the city was quiet with the streets deserted and no extra security forces on patrol.
Police said they had been combing the city ever since the attack.