The military said U.S. embassy personnel in Haiti were evacuated overnight as gang violence explodes in Port-au-Prince and across the country.
The United States military conducted an overnight operation Saturday into Sunday to evacuate American personnel by airlift from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti as violence escalates in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and across the Caribbean country, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement Sunday. Additional security was deployed as part of the operation, officials said.
“At the request of the Department of State, the U.S. military conducted an operation to augment the security of the U.S. Embassy at Port-au-Prince, allow our Embassy mission operations to continue, and enable non-essential personnel to depart,” the U.S. Southern Command said in a statement to CBS News on Sunday morning.
Airlifting U.S. personnel into and from the embassy is consistent with the military’s standard practice for enhancing security at embassies worldwide, the statement continued. There were no Haitians on board the aircraft during the airlifts, according to the military.
“Our Embassy remains focused on advancing U.S. government efforts to support the Haitian people, including mobilizing support for the Haitian National Police, expediting the deployment of the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, and accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections,” the southern command said.
