Haitian Minister Says There Were 26 People in Unit That Killed President Moise - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The unit of mercenaries that killed Haitian President Jovenel Moise consisted of 26 people, national Elections Minister Mathias Pierre said, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.

He also confirmed that the next presidential election would be held on September 26 as it had been planned earlier.

Moise was shot dead in his private residence on Wednesday morning, and his wife was injured in the attack. Six individuals involved in Moise's assassination have been arrested so far, and another seven have been killed. Three of those killed were foreigners, the Haitian authorities said.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that a US citizen is among six suspects arrested during the ongoing police operation in Haiti, and at least one other detainee is also believed to be an American national of Haitian descent by the name of James Solages.

FILE PHOTO: Haiti's President Jovenel Moise speaks during an interview with Reuters at the National Palace of Port-au-Prince, Haiti January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Valerie Baeriswyl/File Photo

© REUTERS / Valerie Baeriswyl

UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Haiti, Helen La Lime, said Thursday that the situation in Haiti remains very serious after the killing of Moise.

Local assistant justice of the peace Carl Henry Destin told Le Nouvelliste newspaper that Moise, who ruled the country from 2017, sustained twelve wounds to his body during the fatal shooting. The wounds are believed to have been inflicted by a "large caliber weapon and with 9-millimeter projectiles."

Moise was assassinated just over two months before the September 26 presidential and legislative elections. He was planning to organize a referendum that same election day to approve a new constitution. The incumbent Haitian constitution prohibits any changes to the country's basic law.