Buenos Aires, 5 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Armed gangs attacked Haiti's two biggest prisons at the weekend, allowing the escape of perhaps thousands of inmates and prompting the government to declare a state of emergency on Sunday night.

The government said in a statement the attacks "led to the deaths and injuries of police and prison staff, the escape of dangerous prisoners, and the devastation of these facilities."

The government did not give exact casualty figures.

Media reports on the number of escaped prisoners varied - from hundreds to almost all of the nearly 3,700 detainees at the national prison in Port-au-Prince.

The police on Saturday were unable to prevent the gangs from freeing a large number of prisoners who were being held for "kidnapping, murder and other offences," the government said earlier on Sunday.

The government later announced that a 72-hour state of emergency would be in effect for to the entire Ouest Department, to which the country's capital belongs, and could be extended.

In addition, a curfew will be imposed from 6 pm to 5 am "to bring the situation back under control."

The government also confirmed there had been another attack on a prison east of the capital in Croix-des-Bouquets. Less was known about this incident, and it was not clear whether prisoners there were also able to escape.

The Lawyers' Collective for the Defence of Human Rights in Haiti reported that there were fewer than 100 remaining inmates at the facility in the capital Port-au-Prince.

The Miami Herald reported the gangs had prepared their attack using drones in order to find out about the movements of the prison guards and determine the best time to attack.

Gang violence in the crisis-ridden Caribbean island nation has escalated again after interim President Ariel Henry visited Kenya last week for talks on an international police operation.

After months of negotiations and a legal tug-of-war, representatives from both countries signed an agreement to this effect on Friday.

According to the deal, the Kenyan government will send 1,000 police officers to impoverished Haiti to help curb violence there.

During the prime minister's absence, criminal gangs paralysed public life in parts of Haiti's capital, including shots being fired at the international airport.

According to the government, several police officers were killed.

Several gang leaders had been reportedly been held in the overcrowded Port-au-Prince prison as well as suspects in connection with the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse.

Moïse was killed with 12 shots in his residence on the night of July 7, 2021. Investigators say around 20 Colombian mercenaries carried out the crime on behalf of several masterminds.

The murder's circumstances have still not entirely been clarified.

According to UN estimates, violent gangs control around 80% of Port-au-Prince and are increasingly extending their sphere of influence to other parts of the country.

The violence is exacerbating the precarious supply situation - according to the UN, almost half of Haiti's 11 million inhabitants are suffering from acute hunger.

Photo: MIA archive