Armed gangs have launched an assault on the primary penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, resulting in the release of numerous inmates.

According to a local journalist interviewed by BBC News, the overwhelming majority of the approximately 4,000 male detainees held at the facility have now fled.

Among those incarcerated were members of gangs facing charges related to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Violence in Haiti, the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere, has escalated in recent years, with gangs controlling 80% of Port-au-Prince in their bid to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The latest surge in violence began when the prime minister traveled to Nairobi on Thursday to discuss the potential deployment of a multinational security force led by Kenya to Haiti.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, known as "Barbecue," announced a coordinated assault aimed at ousting Henry.

Chérizier, a former police officer suspected of orchestrating multiple massacres in Port-au-Prince, stated, "All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united."

A series of shootings resulted in the deaths of four police officers and injuries to five others. The French embassy in Haiti advised against travel in and around the capital.

The police union in Haiti requested military assistance to bolster the prison's defenses, but the facility was ultimately overrun late on Saturday.

On Sunday the doors of the prison were still open and there were no signs of officers, Reuters news agency reported. Three inmates who tried to flee lay dead in the courtyard, the report said.

One volunteer prison worker told the Reuters journalists that 99 prisoners - including former Colombian soldiers jailed over President Moïse's murder - had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in the crossfire.

Violence has been rife since President Moïse's assassination. He has not been replaced and elections have not been held since 2016.

Under a political deal, elections were to be held and the unelected Mr Henry was due to stand down by 7 February, but that did not happen.

In January, the UN said more than 8,400 people were victims of Haiti's gang violence last year, including killings, injuries, and kidnappings - more than double the numbers seen in 2022.

Too bad.