Haitian anti-government protesters have taken to the streets in recent weeks amid growing anger over fuel shortages and rising prices​

Port-au-Prince, October 8 (RHC)-- The Haitian government is seeking assistance from foreign armed forces, officials have said, as the Caribbean country struggles to respond to escalating gang violence. 

“It was decided in the Council of Ministers … to ask the international community for a special police force to deal with such an unbelievable humanitarian crisis,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Henry told the Reuters news agency in a text message.

Violence in the capital Port-au-Prince has soared in recent months, with armed gangs battling for control of key roads and neighbourhoods. A weeks-long gang blockade of Haiti’s main fuel port also has paralysed much of the nation, spurring acute shortages.

Many Haitians have demanded the resignation of Henry, whose government is serving in an interim capacity after he indefinitely delayed an election previously scheduled for November 2021 due to the rising political instability.

Protests and riots have broken out around Haiti since the government announced last month that it will cut fuel subsidies.  One of the poorest countries in the world, Haiti has been suffering from periodic natural disasters and a longstanding political crisis made worse by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July of last year.