Haiti’s national police announced on Friday that they had regained control of the country’s largest oil terminal, which had previously been in the hands of gangs, but clashes were still ongoing in the area, according to two corroborating sources.
“The police conducted an operation between Wednesday and Thursday in order to allow the resumption of activities in the main oil terminal that was taken hostage by armed men,” wrote the Haitian National Police on its Facebook account, photographs of its presence on the scene in support.
“Several police units were deployed with armored vehicles to dislodge the bandits” from the Varreux terminal in Port-au-Prince, the police added.
In the photos and video of its operations, light armored vehicles and men in uniform can be seen on the site of the terminal where huge white circular tanks are located.
However, “the operation continues”, said Friday at the end of the day a police source to AFP.
“The clashes continued between the police and the bandits,” said a source close to the company that manages the site.
The Varreux oil terminal, located southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, supplies most of the petroleum products consumed in Haiti. He had fallen under the hand of gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed “Barbecue”, on September 12.
The blockage of the infrastructure had since led to a virtual paralysis of the country, aggravating the security, political and humanitarian crisis in this poor Caribbean country.
The lack of fuel has also interrupted the distribution of drinking water, which is crucial in the fight against cholera, the incidence of which has recently exploded in Haiti.
Discussions are underway at the United Nations regarding the possible dispatch of an international armed force to the country, following a call from the Haitian government.
