Haiti’s government recently declared a state of emergency after thousands of inmates apparently escaped from its largest prison during a surge of gang violence that has upended the Caribbean nation for months. The government cited the “deterioration of security,” notably in the capital Port-au-Prince, and “increasingly violent criminal acts perpetrated by armed gangs,” including kidnappings and killings of citizens, violence against women and children and looting, according to a statement from Finance Minister Patrick Boivert, who is serving as acting prime minister. It also cited the attacks by armed groups against the country’s two largest prisons, one in Port-au-Prince and another in Croix des Bouquets, which led to the escape of “dangerous prisoners” and caused deaths and injuries among police and prison staff. around 3,500 prisoners are believed to have escaped Haiti’s National Penitentiary in Port-Au-Prince during the spectacle.

Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue, said he would continue in his effort to try to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry. “We ask the Haitian National Police and the military to take responsibility and arrest Ariel Henry. Once again, the population is not our enemy; the armed groups are not your enemy. You arrest Ariel Henry for the country’s liberation,” Cherizier said, adding, “With these weapons, we will liberate the country, and these weapons will change the country.”

Haiti has been gripped by a wave of unrest and gang violence in recent years. Warring gangs control much of Port-au-Prince, choking off vital supply lines to the rest of the country. Gang members have also terrorized the metropolitan population, forcing more than 300,000 people to flee their homes amid waves of indiscriminate killing, kidnapping, arson and rape. Some 1,100 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in January alone, in what the UN called the most violent month in two years.