Haiti declares state of emergency following clashes, curfew imposed for 72 hours

Haiti declared a state of emergency on Sunday (Mar3) following violent clashes in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Citing a government statement, a report by the news agency Reuters on Monday said that to restore order, the government has imposed curfew with immediate effectthroughout the West territory for a "renewable period of seventy-two hours."

The curfew will apply between six in the evening and five in the morning from Sunday to Wednesday, the statement said. It added that law enforcement officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers, health personnel and duly identified journalists would not be required to comply with the curfew.

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Violence, damaged communications, prison breaks

The government's instructions came after a dramatic escalation of violence over the weekendparalysed parts of Port-au-Prince, damaged communications and led to two prison breaks.

On Saturday night, armed groups attacked the country's largest prison. Reuters reported it was unclear how many inmates were on the run. However, sources close to the penitentiary said the numbers were overwhelming.

An inmate, who chose to remain anonymous, told the news agency, "I'm the only one left in my cell. We were asleep when we heard the sound of bullets. The cell barriers are broken."

Meanwhile, a prison worker said that 99 prisoners had opted to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in the crossfire.

The prison breaks came as gang leader Jimmy Cherizier called for criminal groups to unite and overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Cherizier, a former police officer, heads an alliance of gangs and faces sanctions from the United Nations (UN) and the United States (US).

Earlier this week, he warned locals to keep children from going to school to "avoid collateral damages" as violence surged in the prime minister's absence.

Nearly 15k people forced to flee homes

Following the violence, nearly 15,000 people were forced to flee their homes with 10 sites hosting internally displaced peopleover the weekend, the International Organization for Migration said.

In a statement, Prime Minister Henry's office said it was "outraged by the acts of violence and terror orchestrated by armed bandits," and expressed condolences to victims' families, saying the government would continue to work to resolve the conflict.

(With inputs from agencies)