By Sarah Morland
March 13 (Reuters) - An uneasy quiet hung over Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on Wednesday after the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a 74-year-old neurosurgeon who came to power after the assassination of the country's last president.
The news was met with some celebration as well as uncertainty over the response by armed gangs, the future of a planned security mission, Henry's replacement and the country's eventual elections, set to be the first since 2016.
2021
President Jovenel Moise is assassinated on July 7, days after appointing Henry his new prime minister, replacing Claude Joseph, who eventually steps aside after saying Henry's appointment should pave the way for elections.
Moise had postponed a parliamentary vote set to take place in 2019 to September 2021, triggering mass protests.
Henry fires a prosecutor seeking to charge him as a suspect in Moise's killing; international diplomats back him and encourage him to form an inclusive government. Gangs led by Jimmy "Barbeque" Cherizier block the country's main fuel terminal for weeks, seeking to force Henry's resignation.
2022
Henry survives a shooting attempt at a church in Gonaives. U.S. congressmen push President Joe Biden to stop supporting Henry as elections remain uncertain.
As gangs grow their power, turf wars leave hundreds dead, with harrowing reports of mass rapes of women and girls, houses set on fire and people burned alive.
Cherizier's alliance again blocks the main fuel terminal for weeks, leaving transport frozen and hospitals without key energy stores. In October, Henry's government formally seeks an international force to help police fight the gangs.
2023
The terms of Haiti's last senators expire. Henry appoints a transition council to prepare for elections and has promised to step down by February 2024.
With growing violence and police and international support largely absent, a group of Port-au-Prince residents in April lynch and set fire to a dozen suspected gang members. This launches a deadly vigilante justice movement known as Bwa Kale.
Cherizier in September calls for armed overthrow of Henry's government.
A year after Henry's initial request, the U.N. approves a plan to deploy an international security mission to Haiti, based on voluntary contributions. Kenya offers to lead the force but faces legal obstacles.
The U.N. estimates that by year-end nearly 5,000 have been killed and close to 300,000 internally displaced. In three more months, this figure will have surged past 360,000.