Haiti’s government has declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew after an explosion of gang-led violence over the weekend saw thousands of prisoners escape after assaults on the country’s two biggest prisons.<<<HAITI>>>

The 72-hour state of emergency went into immediate effect as the government said it would set out to find the killers, kidnappers and other violent criminals it said it had escaped in the attacks.

The minister of police said The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders.Gangs led by Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer known as Barbecue, are trying to force Henry from power.

Pierre Esperance of the National Network for Defense of Human Rights said only about 100 of the National Penitentiary’s estimated 3,800 inmates remained inside after the assault on Saturday night.