Five Armed Haitian Environmental Agents Killed in Clash with Police, Reports Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – At least five agents from Haiti’s Bureau for the Protection of the Environment (BSAP), an armed agency that has increasingly acted like a paramilitary group, were killed in a gunfight with national police in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, according to the police trade union.

The national police did not immediately provide additional information or confirm any police casualties.

This confrontation follows several days of protests across the nation, coinciding with the deadline of February 7, by which the unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry had pledged to resign; this date also marks the traditional inauguration of Haitian presidents.

Former coup leader Guy Philippe, who was returned to Haiti late last year after spending about six years in a U.S. prison, has been mobilizing supporters for a "revolution" against Henry’s administration in recent weeks.

Local media reports that many BSAP members are former soldiers who collaborated with Philippe during the 2004 ousting of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

In an apparent move to reassert control over the agency, Henry called on BSAP members last week to register with the country’s environmental ministry.

Henry is expected to deliver a national address later on Wednesday. He had signed a non-binding agreement in December 2022 to resign by February 7, 2024, but has since stated that security conditions must be restored to facilitate free and fair elections.

These developments occur as police confront heavily armed gangs that are believed to control much of Haiti’s capital, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis that has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes to escape the violence.