Haitian President shot dead at home

Haitian President, Jovenel Moise is dead.

Moise, who was shot dead overnight by unknown gunmen was killed in an “inhuman and barbaric act,” Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said on Wednesday, July 7, 2021.

His wife was injured in the attack.

Mr. Joseph said security forces had the situation under control despite gunshots that could be heard throughout the capital after the attacks.

His killing comes at a time the Caribbean country is experiencing a rising wave of politically linked violence amid economic hardship.

With Haiti politically divided, and facing a growing humanitarian crisis and shortages of food, there are fears of widespread disorder, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“The President was injured and succumbed to those injuries,” Joseph said in an interview with Radio Caraibes.

He said that the president, who was 53, had been “cowardly assassinated”, but that the murderers “cannot assassinate his ideas”.

Port-au-Prince had been suffering an increase in violence as gangs battle one another and police for control of the streets.

The bloodshed is driven by worsening poverty and political instability. Moise faced fierce protests after taking office as president in 2017, with the opposition accusing him this year of seeking to install a dictatorship by overstaying his mandate and becoming more authoritarian - charges he denied.

“All measures are being taken to guarantee the continuity of the state and to protect the nation,” Joseph said.