Gunmen Wearing Green Uniforms Attacked Police Station in Cayes

Updated July 4, 2016 9:51 AM

Before the dawn on May 16, 2016, a group of gunmen wearing green uniforms attacked the Les Cayes police station in Haiti's southern peninsula. The assailants killed one officer and wounded at least two others before fleeing. As per Octave Jean, the chief police inspector in coastal Les Cayes, there were about 50 attackers wearing faded green uniforms that appeared to be from Haiti's disbanded military. In last February, some of these ex-soldiers, carrying rifles and pistols, clashed with a large gathering of anti-government demonstrators in Port-au-Prince which resulted in the death of one of their gang men, a veteran of the military, abolished in 1995 by Aristide because of its history of toppling governments. Earlier this month, some young men, wearing similar uniforms blocked an entrance to Haiti's defense ministry, demanding works to protect the country's border.

As per Haitian National Police reports, the assailants ransacked the Les Cayes police station, stole guns and tortured police officers. When they tried to escape in a white van, it swerved off a road and tumbled into a ravine, killing three of the attackers. One of them was killed during a shootout with officers in the police station. Four attackers were captured. One of the captured attackers has told the local reporters that Guy Philippe was behind the attack. Guy Philippe is a former Tonton Macoutes leader, former suspended Haitian Police Chief, and a presidential candidate (Front for National Reconstruction, a guerrilla group) who helped the uprising against then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Jean said, the police were caught off guard, but quickly grasped its control over the situation. It was not immediately confirmed whether the gunmen were truly demobilized soldiers.

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Gunmen Wearing Green Uniforms Attacked Police Station in Cayes

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