Haitian gang leader Ernst Julme is killed in shootout as crime boss 'Barbecue' faces setback in taking over Port-au-Prince as country's hunger levels reach 'worst on record'

Haitian gang leader Ernst Julme has been killed in a shootout as warlord Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier prepares to attempt a take-over of the country's capital city. 

Ernst Julme, known as Ti Greg, was shot dead during a police operation on Thursday as tensions continue to flare in Port-au-Prince.

The head of the Delmas 95 gang had recently escaped from Haiti's largest prison in a mass jailbreak on March 2. 

There has been widespread gang-led violence in Haiti and it has seen bodies pile up on the streets in recent days. 

The country has been plunged into chaos, and hunger has reached the worst levels on record.

Haitian gang leader Ernst Julme (pictured) has been killed in a shootout as warlord Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier prepares to try and take over the country's capital city

There has been widespread gang-led violence in Haiti and it has seen bodies pile up on the streets in recent days

The country has been plunged into chaos and hunger has reached the worst levels on record

Julme's death marks a setback for the Viv Ansanm alliance, which is plotting to take over Port-au-Prince in the midst of uncertainty. 

Barbecue, a former elite cop, is the leader of the most feared gang coalition and he is determined to overthrow Haiti's shaky government. 

The crime boss has been capturing territory and there are rumors the gangs are working together to plan a coordinated assault to seize power of the city. 

The death also came a day after another gang leader was killed in an apparent resurgence of vigilante justice, police and sources confirmed.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed reports that political groups in Haiti had selected all members of a transitional council that would take over presidential powers ahead of future elections.

The council, intended to bring together Haiti's fractured political class, is tasked with appointing a replacement to Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation on March 11 as gang violence prevented his return to the country.

'The Secretary-General welcomes reports that Haitian stakeholders have all nominated representatives to the Transitional Presidential Council,' deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a media briefing.

The transition plan was brokered in Jamaica by the intergovernmental Caribbean Community (CARICOM), alongside representatives of Haiti's government and opposition. 

CARICOM released a list of political groups that would be represented in the council.

The nine-member council had been expected to be finalized within a few days of Henry's resignation, but some Haitian political factions were unable to unite behind one representative.

One party rejected the plan, then backtracked, while groups left out of the plan criticized the return of politicians from previous administrations seen as corrupt.

Barbecue has threatened reprisals against politicians and their families if they take part in the proposed council.

Almost half of Haiti's people are struggling to feed themselves as gang violence spreads across the country, with several areas close to famine

Inflation and poor harvests have also helped push Haiti to its worst levels of food insecurity on record

Heavy gunfire was heard on Thursday near the National Palace off the Champ de Mars square in downtown Port-au-Prince, while people fled shootings in the capital's Petion-Ville suburb.

On Wednesday, suspected gang members in Petion-Ville, which has been under attack over recent days, were killed and set on fire - including one leader known as Makandal.

The Caribbean country has been gripped by violence since rival gangs unleashed a wave of attacks this month, including raids on police stations and the international airport.

The conflict has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The state has been largely absent during the violence and police are ill-equipped against heavily armed criminal groups seeking to expand their territorial control of the capital city.

Regional leaders are trying to form a transitional council and Prime Minister Henry has promised to resign once it is set up. 

But he is currently stranded abroad, shut out of the country after making a visit to Kenya to discuss the deployment of an international security force. This has now been put on hold. 

Almost half of Haiti's people are struggling to feed themselves as gang violence spreads across the country, with several areas close to famine, according to international organizations.

Inflation and poor harvests have also helped push Haiti to its worst levels of food insecurity on record, they said.

'Rising hunger is fueling the security crisis that is shattering the country. We need urgent action now - waiting to respond at scale is not an option,' Jean-Martin Bauer, the World Food Programme's Haiti director said.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) - an organization which sets a scale used by the United Nations and governments to assess hunger - said in a report that about 4.97 million people out of a population of about 11.5 million were facing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.

Eight areas were now assessed to be in an emergency phase - the worst level before famine, it said.

The US government organized the departure of 90 US citizens from Haiti's northern city of Cap-Haitien to Miami as well as from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic on Thursday

Around 70 Americans were evacuated out of the country previously

More than 30,000 people have fled violence and shortages in the capital in just two weeks this month, according to U.N. data

These include the Artibonite valley, Haiti's farming heartland which has been badly hit by gangs expanding from the capital Port-au-Prince, rural parts of the Grand-Anse peninsula and neighborhoods of the capital such as the poor Cite Soleil district.

The WFP said Haiti was now suffering its worst levels of food insecurity on record, with many people resorting to desperate measures and taking on more debt as armed groups take over farmlands and steal crops.   

The IPC report found only five percent of Haitians had received humanitarian food aid and the WFP said that operations were were 'woefully under-funded.'

The U.N. and other international bodies and embassies have been evacuating staff and other foreigners by helicopter because Haiti's main airport is not secure.

The U.S. government on Thursday organized the departure of 90 US citizens from Haiti's northern city of Cap-Haitien to Miami as well as from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic. 

Around 70 Americans were evacuated out of the country previously.

More than 30,000 people have fled violence and shortages in the capital in just two weeks this month, according to U.N. data, most of them people who had already lost their homes and were living in camps or with other families.

While at least 360,000 people are internally displaced in Haiti, according to U.N. estimates.