Haiti President Jovenel Moïse killed by group claiming to be DEA agents

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his home Wednesday by a group of unidentified gunmen who also left his wife wounded, interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph announced — calling it a “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act.”

“An unidentified group of individuals, some of whom were speaking in Spanish, attacked the private residence of the President of the Republic and mortally wounded him,” Joseph said in a statement.

The primary languages in the impoverished Caribbean nation of more than 11 million people some 675 miles southeast of Miami are French and Haitian Creole

Joseph said he was now in charge of the country.

The gunmen claimed to be agents with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Miami Herald reported.

But sources told the paper that the assailants, one of whom spoke English with an American accent, were not with the American agency.

“These were mercenaries,” a high-ranking Haitian government official told the Herald.

In his statement, Joseph said first lady Martine Moïse “was wounded by a bullet and the necessary measures are being taken.”

He added: “The security situation of the country is under the control of the Haitian National Police and the Haitian Armed Forces. All measures are being taken to guarantee the continuity of the State and to protect the nation. Democracy and the Republic will triumph.”

Moïse, 53, and his wife were attacked about 1 a.m. local time at their Port-au-Prince residence, said Joseph, who condemned what he called the assailants’ “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act.”

Videos taken by people in the area of the president’s home in the neighborhood of Pelerin 5, above the hills in the capital, suggested that the assailants claimed to be DEA agents, the Miami Herald reported.

“DEA operation! Everybody stand down! DEA operation! Everybody back up, stand down!” someone with an American accent is heard saying in English over a speaker, the news outlet reported.

Residents reported hearing high-powered rounds being fired and seeing black-clad men running through the neighborhoods, according to the Herald, which also cited reports of an exploding grenade and drones buzzing overhead.

The US is assessing the “horrific attack, this tragic attack” and President Biden will be briefed on the assassination, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on MSNBC.

“We will be helpful in any way to the people of Haiti, to the government of Haiti, if there’s an investigation, but we’re still assessing right now, we’re still gathering information. The president, of course, will be briefed by his national security team this morning,” she said.

In an interview on CNN, Psaki said: “We stand ready and stand by them to provide any assistance that is needed … it’s important that people of Haiti know that.”

The US Embassy in Port-au-Prince posted a security alert citing “an ongoing security situation” and said the embassy would close for all services, CBS News reported.

The alert also warned people to “avoid unnecessary travel” in Haiti for the time being.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacted to the attack on Twitter and sent his condolences to Haiti.

“I am shocked and saddened at the death of President Moise,” Johnson wrote. “This is an abhorrent act and I call for calm at this time.”

Colombia President Ivan Duque called on the Organization of American States to send an urgent mission to Haiti to “protect the democratic order” in the country, Reuters reported.

“We reject the vile assassination of the Haitian President Jovenel Moise,” Duque wrote on Twitter. “It is a cowardly act full of barbarity against the entire Haitian people.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet that his country “strongly condemns the assassination.”