U.S. prohibits airlines from flying to Haiti and UN suspends flights after plane was shot by gangs

Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Odelyn Joseph / The Associated Press)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday that it will prohibit U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot two planes and the United Nations will temporarily suspend flights to Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country.

Bullets hit a Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land Monday in the country's capital, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane. On Tuesday, JetBlue announced that one of its planes had also been shot while departing Port-au-Prince on Monday.

The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country plagued by gang violence swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence Monday. The Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until Nov. 18, and Dujarric said the U.N. will divert flights to the country's second airport in the northern, more peaceful, city of Cap Haitien.

Slashed access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, is likely to be devastating as gangs choking the life out of the capital have pushed Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting off flights would mean "limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country."

Already, a convoy of 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies in the south had been postponed and an operation providing cash assistance to a thousand people in the Carrefour area where violence broke out had to be canceled.

"We are doing all we can to ensure the continuation of operations amidst this challenging environment," he said. "We call for an end to the escalating violence, to allow for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access."

On Tuesday, life in much of Haiti's capital was frozen after the wave of violence. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked trucks used for public transportation passing by.

Schools were closed, as were banks and government offices. Streets, where just a day before gangs and police were locked in a fierce firefight, were eerily empty, with few driving by other than a motorcycle with a man who had been shot clinging to the back.

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The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets in the afternoon -- a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haiti's elites and a strong push by the international community to restore peace, the country's toxic slate of gangs kept its firm hold on much of the Caribbean nation.

The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

President Luis Abinader in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, was the first leader on the island to condemn the violence, describing the shooting a "terrorist act".

On Tuesday, a transitional council established in April to restore democratic order to Haiti also condemned the violence.

"This cowardly crime, which threatens Haiti's sovereignty and security, aims to isolate our country on the international stage. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be hunted down and brought to justice," the council wrote in a statement.

The council has taken sharp criticism from many in Haiti who contend that its political fights and corruption allegations against three members created the political instability, allowing gangs to make violent power grabs like the one seen Monday.

That came to a head over the weekend, when it fired former interim Prime Minister Garry Conille -- long at odds with the council. They replaced him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime, who was inaugurated Monday surrounded by suit-clad officials and diplomats while gangs terrorized the capital around them.

Neither Fils-Aime or Conille have commented on the wave of violence.

Conille originally called the council's move illegal, but on Tuesday acknowledged Fils-Aime's appointment in a post on the social media platform X.

"(I) wish him success in fulfilling this mission. At this crucial moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!" he wrote. Fils-Aime promised to work with international partners to restore peace and hold long awaited elections, a vow also made by his predecessor.

But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little taste for the political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.

Jean-Pierre was among those to brave the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said -- selling was the only way she could feed her children.

"What good is a new prime minister if there's no security, if I can't move freely and sell my goods?" she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. "This is my bank account. This is what my family depend on."

It was a frustration that concerned international players like the U.N. and the U.S. that have pushed for a peaceful resolution in Haiti.

On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department lamented that Conille and the council "were unable to move forward in a constructive manner" and called on Fils-Aime and the council to provide a clear action plan outlining a joint vision on how to decrease violence and pave the path for elections to be held to "prevent further gridlock."

"The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors," it wrote in a statement.

Associated Press journalist David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas and Edith Lederer contributed from the United Nations.