(Port-au-Prince) Haiti’s national police announced on Friday that they had regained control of the country’s largest oil terminal, previously in the hands of gangs, but clashes were still ongoing in the area, according to two sources. consistent.
Posted at 8:36 p.m.
“The police carried out an operation between Wednesday and Thursday with the aim of allowing the resumption of activities in the main oil terminal which was taken hostage by armed men”, wrote the national police of Haiti on its Facebook account, photographs of his presence on the scene in support.
“Several police units were deployed using armored vehicles to dislodge the bandits” from the Varreux terminal in Port-au-Prince, the police added.
On the photos and videos of its operations, we see light armored vehicles and men in uniform on the site of the terminal where tower huge white circular tanks.
However, “the operation continues”, indicated Friday at the end of the day a police source to AFP.
“The clashes continued between the police and the bandits,” said a source close to the company that manages the site.
The Varreux oil terminal, located southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, supplies most of the petroleum products consumed in Haiti. He had fallen into the hands of gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed “Barbecue”, on September 12.
The infrastructure blockage had since led to a near paralysis of the country, worsening the security, political and humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Caribbean country.
The lack of fuel has also interrupted the distribution of drinking water, crucial in the fight against cholera, the cases of which have recently exploded in Haiti.
Discussions are underway at the United Nations regarding the possible dispatch of an international armed force to the country, after a call to this effect from the Haitian government.