Daily US Times: A foreign hit squad composed mostly of retired Colombian soldiers assassinated Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse earlier this week, according to police.

Police chief Léon Charles told reporters that the group included 26 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin,

Eight of the suspects are still on the run, while 17, including the two Americans, have been arrested, police said.

The remaining suspects were shot dead during gun fighting with the police in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

A group of gunmen burst into president Moïse’s private residence in the early hours of Wednesday. His wife, Martine, was injured in the attack and has been flown to Florida for treatment where she is said to be in a stable condition.

It is still unclear who planned the attack or what motivated it. Claude Joseph, Haiti’s interim Prime Minister, said that the 53-year-old president may have been targeted because he was fighting “oligarchs” in the country.

Police presented some of the suspects to the media on Thursday along with weapons, Colombian passports and other evidence.

Mr Charles said: “Foreigners came to our country to kill the president,” adding that ”we will strengthen our investigation and search techniques to intercept the other eight mercenaries.”

Colombia’s government has said at least six members of the alleged foreign hit squad appeared to be retired members of its military. Colombia has pledged to assist Haiti with its investigation efforts.

Meanwhile, the US state department said it could not confirm if any of its citizens had been detained.

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