The President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise has been shot dead in an assassination attack at his private residence hours ago.
The assassination was carried out by a commando group with; “foreign elements,” AFP news agency reported, citing interim Prime Minister Joseph.
The shocking news was disclosed by the country’s Interim Prime Minister on Wednesday, as he described the attack as; “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act.”
According to reports, First Lady, Martine Moïse was hospitalized following the overnight attack. The nation of more than 11 million people had grown increasingly unstable and disgruntled under Moïse.
Interim Premier Claude Joseph said; “The country’s security situation is under the control of the National Police of Haiti and the Armed Forces of Haiti. Democracy and the republic will win.”
Joseph added that the police have been deployed to the National Palace and the upscale community of Pétionville and will be sent to other areas.
According to Joseph, some of the attackers spoke in Spanish but offered no further explanation.
53 year old Jovenel Moise had been ruling by decree for more than two years after the country failed to hold elections, which led to Parliament being dissolved.
Opposition leaders have accused him of seeking to increase his power, including approving a decree that limited the powers of a court that audits government contracts and another that created an intelligence agency that answers only to the president.