Haiti gangs loot national library

Haiti’s National Library was looted Wednesday by armed gangs terrorising the Caribbean nation's capital Port-au-Prince, its director told AFP, as UNESCO condemned multiple "devastating" attacks on educational and artistic institutions in the city, France 24 reports.

Library director Dangelo Neard said the history of Haiti was being threatened.

"Our documentary collections are in danger. We have rare documents over 200 years old, with importance to our heritage, which risk being burned or damaged by bandits," he said.

Armed groups control most of Port-au-Prince and swaths of countryside in the absence of a functioning government and continued delays in establishing a promised transitional authority, France 24 adds.

The attack on the National Library comes after assaults last week on two universities, the Ecole Normale Superieure and the National School of Arts. 

UNESCO has condemned these “acts of vandalism, looting and arson against the country's educational institutions” saying they have devastating consequences for the future of Haitian society.

Haiti has been rocked by a surge in violence since February, when its powerful criminal gangs teamed up to attack police stations, prisons, the airport and the seaport.

They are seeking to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been in power since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in 2021. Henry announced March 11 he would step down as part of an internationally brokered plan to make way for a so-called transitional council.