Haiti’s international airport at Port-Au-Prince was Monday shut down after gangs opened fire at a landing commercial flight.
The Spirit Airlines from Fort Lauderdale, Florida was hundreds of feet from landing when it was struck by gunfire forcing it to be diverted to Dominican Republic.
According to AP, there were no reported fatalities with only the flight attendant suffering minor injuries after being grazed by a bullet.
Several airlines were also forced to temporarily suspend operations after the incident which happened as the country swore in a new interim prime minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
Didier replaces Garry Conille who was kicked out by the country’s Transition Council established in April.
Speaking after the swearing-in, he promised to restore peace and ensure no more lives are lost.
“I am deeply sorry for the people that have been victimised, forced to leave everything they own,” he said.
The council was meant to pave the way to democratic elections, which have not been held since 2016.
In the past few weeks, the nation has witnessed political chaos with gangs operating in the country engaging police in firefights in the streets.
While the Multinational Security Support (MSS) led by Kenya has made some strides, the force is faced with some challenges which include funding, personnel and equipment to be able to completely free the country from the criminal gangs that control 85 per cent of Port-Au-Prince.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) extended last month the mandate of the force for another year following the lapse of the period.
There have been calls to have the mission transition into a UN peacekeeping mission.
Kenya is preparing to deploy the third batch of 600 officers this month to reinforce the operations to flush out the gangs.
At least 10 countries promised to send a total of about 2,900 troops to participate in the mission.
But only about 430 have deployed since the UN-authorised mission got underway in June, nearly 400 of them from Kenya.
