PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — The Haitian National Police (PNH) have confirmed that it carried out an operation on the “stronghold” of the reputed gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier earlier this week.

The PNH said that the operation on Wednesday included members of the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAD’H) and the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and that the leader of the terrorist group “Viv Ansanm” was not present.

Video footage of the operation shared online showed a large explosion destroying at least one building and affecting nearby houses, with a large smoke cloud released into the air. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed, injured or arrested in the operation.

In its statement, the PNH said that it had carried out an operation targeting the house of gang leader Cherizier in Port-au-Prince’s Delmas 6 neighborhood, a longtime stronghold for armed groups working under Cherizier.

The 48-year-old former police officer is the leader and spokesman for Viv Ansanm, a coalition of armed groups that has taken over a vast majority of the capital and is blamed for the killings of hundreds of people, rapes and a violent conflict against police in a bid to overthrow the provisional government following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.

Cherizier is among several Haitian gang leaders to be sanctioned by the United Nations with the United States posting a US$5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or capture.

The attack on the stronghold of Viv Ansanm comes as the February 7 deadline approaches for the current transitional government’s mandate to end.

Last week, the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) called on all stakeholders in Haiti to demonstrate patriotism above all other sentiments if Haitians are to determine their own destiny.