The president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, has been assassinated in his private residence by a group of armed men who also seriously injured his wife, according to a statement from the interim prime minister’s office.
Speaking on a local radio station, the prime minister, Claude Joseph, confirmed the killing of Moïse, saying the attack had been carried out by an “armed commando group” that included foreign elements.
“Around one o’clock in the morning, during the night of Tuesday 6 to Wednesday 7 July 2021, a group of unidentified individuals, including some speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the president and fatally injured the head of state,” Joseph said in a statement quoted in the media.
Jovenel Moïse, 53, had been in power since February 2017, after his predecessor Michel Martelly stepped down.