Heavy gunfire erupted in downtown Port-au-Prince on Thursday after Haiti’s leaders made the rare and defiant decision to meet at the National Palace to symbolise the retaking of an area long controlled by powerful gangs.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but at least one armoured vehicle driving through the area was shot up, according to local media reports.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and members of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, along with other high-ranking government officials, were at the National Palace when the heavy gunfire began.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the officials were evacuated, but local news site Tripotay Lakay filmed a caravan of official cars quickly exiting the National Palace from its rear exit as people in the area ran for cover.

Key meeting

The government officials had gathered at the palace for a key meeting in which they were expected to approve budgets and important measures.

Before the meeting began, they gathered outside on the grounds of the palace as a police band played and Haiti’s flag was raised, with heavily armed officers standing watch on the second floor behind sandbags for protection.

“This government meeting marks a symbolic and decisive step in the gradual resumption of state control over downtown Port-au-Prince, the historic heart of republican power,” read a government statement issued on Thursday before gunfire erupted.

Haiti’s leaders have long stayed away from the National Palace since it’s located in an area that until recently was considered unsafe and controlled by a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm.

'Taking back control'

But in recent weeks, government workers began clearing and securing the area with hopes of reclaiming it from the hands of gangs.

“We are taking back control of our capital and giving our people the security and dignity they deserve,” said Fils-Aimé shortly before the attack began.

Gangs are estimated to control up to 90% of Port-au-Prince, and they have remained entrenched in the downtown area and nearby communities.

Leslie Voltaire, a former vice president of the transitional presidential council who presided over the meeting because the council's leader was on an official overseas trip, did not refer to the violence in a post on X in which he praised the meeting.

'Matters of national importance'

“We discussed matters of national importance, such as security, the 2025-2026 budget, and national governance. The state reaffirms all of its authority over the Champ de Mars,” he wrote, referring to the area where the National Palace is located.

The attack comes just days after the UN Security Council approved the creation of a so-called gang suppression force to help repel gangs in the troubled Caribbean country.

The U.S. Embassy in Haiti said Thursday that the US and its Caribbean partners were working on helping implement the new force.

“Together, we will defeat the gangs terrorising the region!” it wrote on X.

The force is expected to replace a UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is winding down after it was severely hampered by a lack of resources and personnel.