Haiti replaces interim PM amid escalating gang war

Haiti’s transitional council has removed the country’s interim prime minister, Garry Conille, amid an escalating gang war that a Kenya-led international police force has failed to quell.

Conille, a former UN development official installed in May, will be replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a local businessman who once ran for the senate.

The announcement, made via a decree signed by eight of the nine transition council members, was published in the national gazette on Sunday evening.

Conille’s ouster represents a blow for the country’s chances at achieving political stability as a gang-driven wave of violence and kidnapping continues to upend the lives of Haitians.

Members of the council had been in open dispute in recent weeks after Conille attempted to remove three members accused of corruption.