The secretary-general of Haiti's High Transition Council, Anthony Virginie Saint-Pierre, has been kidnapped, according to the head of the committee tasked with creating a road map for elections tentatively scheduled for next year.
Haiti, which last had elections in 2016 and has been without elected representatives since January, is facing a humanitarian crisis driven by gangs who control large parts of the capital and have kidnapped hundreds of people.
Citing the president of the HCT, Mirlande Manigat, local media reported that Saint-Pierre was kidnapped around noon in the Debussy neighborhood of the capital, Port-au-Prince, by armed men dressed as police officers.
In nearby Petion-Ville, media said clashes had taken place between Haiti's national police and members of the Kraze Barye gang.
A year ago, the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested urgent help from an international armed force to help under-resourced police fight the gangs. Despite a U.N. ratification earlier this month, such a force has yet to materialize.
Henry came to power after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, which created a political vacuum allowing gangs to expand their territories. He has pledged to hold elections once security conditions are re-established.
In early September, the U.N. estimated that at least 970 Haitians have been kidnapped this year.
