(CNN)—
Heavy gunfire has forced flight cancellations at Haiti’s main airport and killed at least four at a police station, as the Caribbean nation grapples with surging gang violence and political instability.
American Airlines said Thursday it had suspended its daily service between Miami and Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.
“We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” spokesperson Laura Masvidal told CNN.
Haitian airline Sunrise Airways told CNN that it suspended “all flights until further notice to ensure the safety of passengers, ground crews, and aircraft.”
Rapid gunfire was reported in multiple parts of Port-au-Prince on Thursday. Shootings near the airport “caused damage to some aircraft and endangered users” of the domestic terminal, according to Sunrise Airways.
Haiti has been gripped by a wave of unrest and gang violence in recent years.
Warring gangs control much of Port-au-Prince, choking off vital supply lines to the rest of the country. Gang members have also terrorized the metropolitan population, forcing some 200,000 people to flee their homes amid waves of indiscriminate killing, kidnapping, arson and rape.
Some 1,100 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in January alone, in what the United Nations called the most violent month in two years.
More than 8,400 people were victims of such violence through last year, according to a report from the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BIUH).
Waves of crime and violence began to sweep across Haiti following the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021
Public frustration has mounted against Prime Minister Ariel Henry for his failure to put a lid on the unrest, especially after he failed to hold elections supposedly slated for last month, citing the escalating violence.
On Wednesday, Henry told other Caribbean nations’ leaders during a regional summit that he would hold polls no later than August 31 next year, his first confirmation on when a vote will finally go ahead.
Unlike many developed countries with low fertility rates, such as the United States, Japan and other East Asian nations have shied away from using immigration to bolster their population.
But Japan’s crisis is unique in that it’s been decades in the making, experts say – meaning its impact is particularly evident now, with relief unlikely to come anytime soon. So whatever path Japan takes will likely offer a roadmap for other countries facing unchartered territory, and a glimpse into their potential future.
