Haiti’s main airport and capital are frozen a day after gangs attacked a plane

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s main airport remained closed Tuesday, a day after gangs shot up a landing plane and injured a flight attendant Violence broke out as the country sworn in its new prime minister in a politically turbulent transition.

Life was frozen in much of the capital following the wave of violence that peaked when gangs shot up a Spirit Airlines plane in Haiti’s capital on Monday, forcing the airport to close. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes inside a plane. Several airlines suspended flights to Haiti through Thursday, but it was unclear how long the closures might last.

On Tuesday, heavily armed police officers in armored vehicles checked trucks used for public transport driving past the airport.

Schools were closed, as were banks and government offices. The streets where gangs and police had engaged in a bitter gun battle just a day earlier were eerily empty, with few passing except for a motorcycle with a shot man clinging to the rear.

The sound of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets – a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haitian elites and a strong push by the international community to restore peace, the country’s toxic gangs maintained a firm grip on much of the Caribbean nation.

The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A United Nations supported mission led by the Kenyan police There is a lack of money and staff to combat gang violence, which leads 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 dismiss the country’s government Interim Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was often at odds with the council during his six months in office.

Although Conille declared the move illegal, the council immediately sworn in businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new interim prime minister. Fils-Aimé pledged to work with international partners to restore peace and hold long-awaited elections, a promise also made by his predecessor.

But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little relish for the political infighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to further expand their control over Haiti is on the brink of famine.

Jean-Pierre was among those who ventured through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes, which she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said – selling was the only way to feed her children.

“What is the use of a new prime minister if there is no security, if I cannot move freely and sell my goods,” she said, pointing to her basket of vegetables. “This is my bank account, my family depends on it.”

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Associated Press video journalist Pierre-Richard Luxama contributed to this report.