2 weeks Ago
The US Federal Aviation Administration has banned civilian flights into Haiti for 30 days after a jetliner was shot at on approach to Port-au-Prince. Bullets hit the Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land on Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. The shooting was 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.
A UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence on Monday. The Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until 18 November, and Dujarric said the UN will divert flights to the country's second airport in the northern, more peaceful, city of Cap Haìˆtien. 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...
Guardian staff reporter.
