Attacks have flared in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince including a shootout which left another gang leader dead, as political groups appeared to get nearer to finalising a transition council to take over from an absent government.
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A police operation killed the head of the Delmas 95 gang, Ernst Julme, a day after another gang leader was killed in an apparent resurgence of a vigilante justice movement, police and sources confirmed.
A member of gang leader Jimmy "Barbeque" Cherizier's "Viv Ansanm" alliance, Julme's death marks a setback for gangs' moves to take over more parts of the city.
Julme had recently escaped from Haiti's largest prison in a mass jailbreak.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed reports that political groups had selected all members of a transitional council set to assume presidential powers ahead of future elections, a UN spokesperson said.
The council, intended to bring together Haiti's fractured political class, is mandated with appointing a replacement to de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation on March 11 as gang violence prevented his return into the country.
"The Secretary-General welcomes reports that Haitian stakeholders have all nominated representatives to the Transitional Presidential Council," deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a press briefing.
The transition plan was brokered in Jamaica by the intergovernmental Caribbean Community (CARICOM), alongside representatives of Haiti's government and opposition.
The nine-member council was initially expected to be finalised within a couple of days of Henry's resignation, but some Haitian political factions were unable to unite behind one representative.
One party rejected the plan altogether then backtracked, while groups left out of the plan criticised the return of politicians from previous administrations seen as corrupt.
Cherizier has threatened reprisals against politicians and their families if they take part in the proposed council.
Heavy gunfire was heard on Thursday near the National Palace off the Champ de Mars square in downtown Port-au-Prince, while people fled fresh shootings in the capital's Petion-Ville suburb.
On Wednesday suspected gang members in Petion-Ville, which has been under attack over recent days, were killed and set on fire - including one leader known as Makandal - in what appeared to be a resurgence of a civilian vigilante movement known as Bwa Kale.
Local media reported another Bwa Kale killing outside the capital on Thursday, though Reuters was unable to verify this.
The state has been largely absent during the violence and police are ill-equipped against heavily armed criminal groups seeking to expand their territorial control of the capital city. Plans for an international security mission, requested by Henry in 2022, remain on hold.
Haq said the international force's swift deployment was critical for the political and security situations to improve.
The UN and other international bodies and embassies have been evacuating staff and other foreigners by helicopter because Haiti's main airport is not secure.
The US government on Thursday organised the departure of 90 US citizens from Haiti's northern city of Cap-Haitien to Miami as well as from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic, in addition to 70 it has flown out since Sunday, a State Department spokesperson said.
Australian Associated Press
