TEHRAN, March 05 (MNA) – Haiti is under a nighttime curfew after armed gangs led a mass prison break and demanded the resignation of the country’s prime minister.The curfew is part of a renewable 72-hour state of emergency imposed Sunday, following an attack by gunmen on the country’s largest prison, the National Penitentiary, late Saturday.

The attack allowed a large portion of the prison’s estimated 4,000 inmates to escape, according to Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, Washington Post reported.

In a statement, Boivert accused Haitian gangs of numerous violent criminal acts, including kidnapping, assassinations, and violence against women and children, as well as the attacks on the National Penitentiary and another prison.

“The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders,” Boivert said.

He wrote that the curfew would run from 8 p.m.

until 5 a.m.

The dramatic escalation of violence comes after Jimmy Chérizier — a former police officer turned gang leader known by the nickname “Barbecue” — called for Haiti’s warring criminal factions to unite to oust the country’s acting prime minister, Ariel Henry.

Gangs, such as Chérizier’s G9 Family and Allies alliance, are now estimated to control up to 80 percent of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, amid a surge in violence that led to 4,789 homicides nationwide last year, according to the United Nations.

It was not immediately clear how many people died in the weekend’s violence, though a journalist at Spanish news agency EFE recounted seeing at least 10 dead bodies at the National Penitentiary.

SD/PR