Suspected Haitian gang members opened fire on U.S. Marines guarding the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince this week, a confrontation underscoring the escalating insecurity gripping the Haitian capital. Capt. Steven J. Keenan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said in an email Saturday that the shooting occurred Thursday and that Marines returned fire. No U.S. personnel were injured.
Haitian police did not immediately comment on the exchange, which adds to the growing list of violent encounters amid the near-total control gangs hold over Port-au-Prince. Armed groups now dominate roughly 90% of the capital, extorting businesses, battling rival factions and operating with heavy weaponry in neighborhoods long beyond the reach of government forces.
The United States continues to maintain its embassy in Haiti despite the country’s worsening security crisis. The State Department has repeatedly warned Americans not to travel to Haiti due to persistent threats that include kidnappings, violent crime, terrorist activity and civil unrest.
According to the United Nations, more than 1.3 million Haitians have been forced from their homes as gang violence intensifies. Conditions have deteriorated sharply since 2021, when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his home by mercenaries, leaving the nation without an elected leader. No national elections have been held to replace him, deepening the political vacuum and enabling gangs to expand their power.
In September, the United Nations Security Council authorized a multinational security mission of about 5,500 troops to counter Haiti’s heavily armed criminal groups. A separate, smaller contingent of Kenyan police officers deployed earlier has struggled to contain the violence. The U.N. Human Rights Office estimates gangs killed 5,600 people in Haiti last year.
