US bans airlines from flying to Haiti after planes shot up by gangs: NPR

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot down three planes, and the United Nations also temporarily suspended flights to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, limiting humanitarian aid that enters the country.

Bullets hit a Spirit Airlines flight as it was about to land in the capital on Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. Photos and videos taken by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane.

On Tuesday, JetBlue and American Airlines announced that post-flight inspections found their planes had also been shot at on Monday while departing from Port-au-Prince. American suspended flights to the capital until February 12.

The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country, plagued by gang violence, swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and several roadblocks affecting the humanitarian operation during the violence on Monday. Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until November 18, and Dujarric said the UN will divert flights to the country’s other airport in the northern, more peaceful city of Cap Haïtien.

Cut access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, is likely to be devastating, as gangs choking the life out of the capital have pushed Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that suspending flights would mean “limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country.”

Already, a convoy of 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies in the south had been delayed, and an operation providing cash aid to a thousand people in the Carrefour area, where the violence broke out, had to be cancelled.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure operations continue amid this challenging environment,” he said. “We call for an end to the escalating violence to enable safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access.”

On Tuesday, life in large parts of Haiti’s capital was frozen after the wave of violence. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked trucks used for public transport passing by.

Schools were closed, as were banks and government offices. The streets, where only a day before gangs and police were locked in a fierce firefight, were eerily empty, with few passing by except a motorcycle with a man who had been shot clinging to its back.

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

The UN estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence lacked funding and personnel, prompting calls for a UN peacekeeping mission.

President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, was the first leader on the island to condemn the violence, describing the shooting as an “act of terrorism”.

On Tuesday, a transitional council set up in April to restore democratic order in Haiti also condemned the violence.

“This cowardly crime, which threatens Haiti’s sovereignty and security, aims to isolate our country on the international stage. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be hunted down and brought to justice,” the council wrote in a statement.

The council has drawn sharp criticism from many in Haiti, who say its political infighting and corruption charges against three members created political instability, allowing gangs to carry out violent power grabs like the one seen Monday.

It came to a head at the weekend when it sacked former interim premier Garry Conille – long at odds with the council. They replaced him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who was inaugurated on Monday surrounded by suit-clad officials and diplomats as gangs terrorized the capital around them.

Neither Fils-Aimé nor Conille has commented on the wave of violence.

Conille initially called the council’s move illegal, but on Tuesday acknowledged Fils-Aimé’s appointment in a post on social media platform X.

“(I) wish him luck in accomplishing this mission. At this crucial moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!” he wrote. 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 taste for the political battles that experts say only give gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.

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

“What good is a new prime minister if there is no security, if I can’t move freely and sell my goods?” she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. “This is my bank account. It’s what my family depends on.”

It was a frustration that worried international actors such as the UN and the US, who have been pushing for a peaceful solution in Haiti.

On Tuesday, the US State Department lamented that Conille and the council “were unable to move forward in a constructive manner” and called on Fils-Aimé and the council to present a clear action plan outlining a shared vision of how to reduce the violence and pave the way. the way to elections to be held to “prevent further gridlock.”

“The urgent and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors,” it wrote in a statement.