Gunmen shoot journalists during the reopening of a hospital in Haiti Crime news

Haitian authorities struggle to combat the emergence of powerful armed gangs, and accountability for violence is rare.

Gunmen opened fire on a group of Haitian journalists who had gathered to cover the reopening of the capital’s largest public hospital.

While the authorities did not provide details about the victims of Tuesday’s attack, Reuters reported that two journalists and a police officer were killed, citing a journalist who witnessed the attack and requested that his name not be revealed.

“We express our sympathy to all the families of the victims, in particular the Haitian National Police and all journalists’ associations,” Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council said in a post on social media.

“We guarantee them that this action will not pass without consequences.”

This is the latest attack to rock Haiti, where continued political and economic instability has helped fuel escalating violence. Armed gangs Which has become more powerful since the assassination of the former president Jovenel Moise In 2021.

Law enforcement authorities in the island nation are struggling to confront criminal groups, which have taken control of an estimated 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where widespread violence has struck civilians and disrupted… Vital services.

One of the institutions forced to close in March was the General Hospital, the largest public hospital in the country. Reuters reported that journalists gathered on Tuesday morning to cover the reopening of the facility when gunmen opened fire around 11 a.m. (16:00 GMT).

Government officials had gathered to reopen the hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince in July, but that event was also subject to gunfire, forcing former Prime Minister Gary Connell to flee the scene.

An unverified video, posted online on Tuesday, shows three injured journalists lying on the floor of the building. A recent United Nations report stated that only 24 percent of… Health facilities In the Port-au-Prince area, ready to operate.

Johnson “Izo” Andre, the leader of a powerful coalition gang known as Viv Ansanem, posted a video on social media on Tuesday claiming responsibility for the attack.