July 8, 2021

PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 7 (Reuters) - Haitian President Jovenel Moise was shot dead by gunmen with assault rifles in his private residence overnight on Wednesday, sparking fears of a further descent into chaos in the impoverished Caribbean nation as a manhunt got underway.

The assassination, which drew condemnation from Washington and neighboring Latin American countries, came amid political unrest, a surge in gang violence and a growing humanitarian crisis in the poorest nation in the Americas.

The government declared a two-week state of emergency to help it hunt down the killers whom Haiti's ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, described as a group of "foreign mercenaries" and well-trained killers.

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