On Sunday, the US military confirmed its execution of an operation in Haiti aimed at evacuating non-essential embassy personnel and augmenting the security presence at the embassy.

This intervention comes as Haiti grapples with a state of emergency, with escalating gang violence posing a severe threat to the stability of the government and prompting a mass exodus of residents from their homes.

“This 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,” the US military’s Southern Command said in a statement, the New York Post reported.

In response to security concerns, the European Union’s delegation in Haiti has temporarily shut down its offices and scaled back its presence in the country to the bare minimum, as reported on social media X.

The move comes amid heightened tensions, with Haiti declaring a state of emergency last Sunday, coinciding with increased violence while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Nairobi negotiating a deal for the long-delayed U.N.-backed mission.

Written by B.C. Begley