One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders is threatening to attack the prime minister’s office and other branches of government, as the troubled Caribbean nation prepares for a leadership transition. 

In a video shared on social media, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier of the “Viv Ansanm” gang coalition, asked the nation to help him overthrow the transitional government and announced plans to seize government offices, including the building from which the executive branch is operating. 

The leadership of the Presidential Transitional Council is due to rotate Thursday. Fritz Alphonse Jean, who has held the office since March, is slated to hand over the helm to Laurent Saint-Cyr, a businessman who has led the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti and the country’s Chamber of Industry. 

Le Nouvelliste newspaper reported sporadic gunfire in the capital of Port-au-Prince on Thursday, and said a Kenyan-led security mission lost two armored personnel carriers overnight. 

Haiti has been mired in violence and political chaos that has only grown more intense since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Gangs now control 90% of the capital and more than 3,137 people have been murdered this year, according to the United Nations. The chaos comes as the transitional council is trying to organize long-overdue elections by February 2026.