The decision by UN agencies responds to the impossibility of accessing the capital’s port and airport, the latter closed as occurred last March.

The pause in airport operations is due to an attack on a plane of the US company Spirit Airlines just as it was landing.

Gang members with their automatic weapons hit the fuselage with several projectiles, one of which injured a flight attendant. The pilots reacted, lifted the aircraft and landed in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Access to the port is also difficult due to the closure of roads, many of which have been taken over by criminal gangs.

Such setbacks have forced the UN to postpone the transfer of 20 trucks laden with medicines and essential supplies to southern Haiti.

Days ago, gang members opened fire at a UN Humanitarian Air Service helicopter, which was carrying 18 people, 15 passengers and three crew members.

The aircraft was attacked while flying over the airspace of Grand-Ravine, a district located at the southern entrance to Port-au-Prince, and was forced to make an emergency landing after being hit by several projectiles.

jg/ro/joe