US Reinforces Haiti Embassy, Evacuates Some Staff In Overnight Airlift Mission

America could be on the verge of losing another embassy on President Biden's watch.

Haiti is quickly accelerating into greater chaos and violence by the day. The US military was forced this weekend to fly in reinforcements to the US embassy in the country's capital, Port-au-Prince, where the area outside the embassy has been transformed into a warzone. 

The late-night operation also included emergency evacuations for non-essential embassy personnel:

"The airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft," US Southern Command wrote in a statement, as quoted by the newspaper Miami Herald. 

Earlier this month, more than 4,500 inmates escaped from the Caribbean nation's two largest prisons. Armed gangs who orchestrated the twin jailbreaks have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. 

"In the past week, the political crisis in Haiti, combined with escalating violence and civil unrest, has created an untenable situation which threatens the country's citizens and security," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told Newsweek on Friday.  

Haitian authorities began a state of emergency last Sunday and extended it on Thursday as fierce battles continue across Port-au-Prince. 

The US embassy wrote on X that it will "remain open" despite "heightened gang violence in the neighborhood near US embassy compounds and near the airport." 

Haiti is "on the cusp of even greater chaos and violence," campaign group Human Rights Watch said last week, adding the political and economic crisis is driving a major humanitarian emergency.