PORT-AU-PRINCE (Dsipatches) - At least 28 people carried out the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police said Thursday, adding that 26 of them were Colombian and two were Americans of Haitian origin.
“We have arrested 15 Colombians and the two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed while eight others are on the loose,” National Police Director General Leon Charles said at a news conference.
On Wednesday police said four of the suspects had been killed. Charles did not explain the discrepancy.
He also said the “weapons and materials used by the assailants have been recovered”.
Charles spoke a day after Moise and his wife Martine were attacked by gunmen at their private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Moise was shot dead in the early morning attack, and his wife was wounded. She has been taken to Miami by air ambulance and authorities have said her condition is stable.
The poorest country in the Americas now has no president or working parliament and two men claiming to be in charge as prime minister.
Charles vowed the hunt for the other alleged assassins would continue.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow is seriously concerned by reports that those arrested on suspicion of killing the President of Haiti Jovenel Moise have U.S. citizenship.
Moscow expects that not only the perpetrators, but also the masterminds of the killing will be found, said Zakharova on Friday, RIA Novosti reported.
The spokeswoman underscored the concerns of the Russian leadership that the internal conflict in Haiti may be manipulated by external players to serve geopolitical purposes.
The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the audacious and demonstrative killing of the President of Haiti.