‘Transitional council’ takes oath of office after prime minister formally resigns as gang violence continues to rock capital

Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, has formally resigned and a new provisional government has been sworn in during a secret ceremony at the presidential palace, nearly two months after a criminal insurrection plunged the capital into chaos.

The nine-person “transitional council” was officially established on Thursday during an event at the national palace in Port-au-Prince. As its members took their oaths, Henry, who is in the US having been locked out of Haiti by the gang uprising, announced in a letter that he was stepping down.

Killings underscore how outnumbered police are in Haiti after months of attacks and kidnappings by gangs

Two men in Haiti were hacked to death by a mob who thought they were buying weapons for gangs, police said Saturday.

Police confirmed the crowd snatched the men from police custody after they were found with about $20,000 (£16,000) and the equivalent of about $43,000 in Haitian cash in their car, along with two pistols and a box of ammunition.

Gunmen looted homes in Laboule and Thomassin, forcing residents to flee previously peaceful neighborhoods

• Haiti: what caused the gang violence and will it end now the PM has quit?

Gunmen have assaulted two upscale neighborhoods in Haiti’s capital in an attack that left at least a dozen people dead in surrounding areas and suggested that a gang insurrection that prompted the prime minister to resign is far from over.

Assailants looted homes in the communities of Laboule and Thomassin before sunrise on Monday, forcing residents to flee as some called radio stations pleading for police. Both neighborhoods had previously remained largely peaceful despite a surge in gang attacks across Port-au-Prince that began on 29 February.

Plan for transitional council to rule after prime minister’s resignation brings strong sense of deja vu

Scenes of unrest in Haiti, as Ariel Henry announced his resignation as prime minister amid a violent gang uprising, have brought a strong sense of deja vu.

An international proposal for a transitional council to rule the country appeared to be crumbling on Wednesday. But those jostling for influence are familiar figures associated with political parties, coalitions, and the tiny oligarchic business elite that have been key players in the country’s long-running crisis of political legitimacy.

Matt Knight, a British aid worker, tells of ferocious gun battles between security forces and gangs that keep him up at night

• Haiti: what caused the gang violence crisis?

A British aid worker who is one of dozens of foreigners stranded in Haiti after a gang insurrection against the government has described the “fear and bewilderment” of being marooned in a city under siege.

Matt Knight, the director for the Irish humanitarian aid agency Goal Global in Haiti, flew into its capital, Port-au-Prince, from Europe three days before the uprising against Prime Minister Ariel Henry began on 29 February.

Jimmy Chérizier says he’s leading Haiti’s poor against corrupt government forces but experts point to a dark and violent past

Murals in the pauperized Haitian slums he rules liken him to the Argentinian guerrilla Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

In interviews, he poses as a God-fearing Caribbean Robin Hood and celebrates freedom fighters and agitators including Fidel Castro, Thomas Sankara and Malcolm X.