Police vehicle on patrol in Port-au-Prince comes under attack by gangs

Описание: (20 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 19 January 2026
1. Various of police officers firing from an armored vehicle driving through the city
2. Molotov cocktail smoke inside the armored police vehicle; police officers and press inside the vehicle
3. Police officer trying to put out fire
4. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Etienne Yvenner, resident:
++PART COVERED BY SHOTS 1, 2, 3++
“We must help the police. The population must get involved. Today, the bandits are against us, against the people. If they were not against us, they would not burn our houses, they would not burn the homes in Solino, they would not burn our home in Delmas.”
5. Police vehicle driving away
6. Various of police officers inside the vehicle driving through the city
7. Gunshots
8. Police officer with a weapon
9. Passenger bus seen from the vehicle porthole
10. Various of streets with damaged houses
STORYLINE:
The Associated Press embedded with a specialized police unit in Haiti came under attack when patrolling the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince on Monday.

The armored vehicle that was transporting five police officers and two journalists rumbled through downtown Port-au-Prince when suspected gang members threw several Molotov cocktails at it.

The once-bustling area is considered one of the most dangerous gang-controlled zones in Haiti.

Heavy smoke quickly filled the interior of the armored vehicle, and its roof was set on fire.

Police officers responded by firing their automatic weapons from the vehicle's port holes while they sped away from the area.

Etienne Yvenner was one the volunteers helping to put out the fire on the police vehicle.

“We must help the police, the population must get involved, today the bandits are against us, the bandits are against the people,” said Yvenner.

It was the latest attack on police and civilians as Haiti struggles to contain gang violence while poverty and hunger deepen.

Almost two years have passed since the first police officers from Kenya landed in Haiti to lead a U.N.-backed mission aimed at repelling gangs that control an estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince.

The mission remains underfunded and understaffed, with ongoing gang violence displacing a record 1.4 million people across the country.

In September, the United Nations approved a so-called “gang suppression force” expected to transform the current mission this year and grant the force power to arrest suspected gang members.

Haiti also expects to hold general elections this year for the first time in a decade.

With another vehicle, officers and journalists continued the patrol as Haitian police persisted in their fight against gangs.

AP video by Pierre Luxama

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