The Haitian government has blamed foreign hand behind the killing, pointing out that the perpetrators spoke Spanish and English while the majority in Haiti either speak French and Haitian Creole, reported Al Jazeera.

“It was a team of 28 assailants, 26 of whom were Colombian, who carried out the operation to assassinate the president,” head of Haiti's National Police, Leon Charles, said at the press conference in Port-au-Prince, according to the report.

“We have arrested 15 Colombians and the two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed while eight others are on the loose.”

Earlier, Police General Director Leon Charles had described the killers as "mercenaries" and said that the security forces were locked in a fierce gun-battle with the men who assassinated the president at his home overnight, the report informed.

“We blocked them en route as they left the scene of the crime,” Charles said in televised comments, it stated. “Since then, we have been battling with them.”

“They will be killed or apprehended.”

To aid the investigation, the US is sending FBI agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials to Port-au-Prince.

“In response to the Haitian government’s request for security and investigative assistance, we will be sending senior FBI and DHS officials to Port-au-Prince to assess the situation and how we may be able to assist,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

“The investigation is being led by Haitian police forces on the ground,” Psaki added.

Bocchit Edmond, the Haitian ambassador to the United States, said the assassins were masqueraded as US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, Al Jazeera reported.

The DEA has an office in the Haitian capital to assist the Haitian government in narcotics control.

Haiti First Lady Martine Moise sustained injuries in the attack and was airlifted to a US hospital in Florida for medical care.

The Haitian government has declared a two-week state of emergency to help it find the assassins.

Haiti, a country of about 11 million people, has been in turmoil since the fall of the Duvalier dynastic dictatorship in 1986 with a series of coups and foreign interventions never allowing political stability to be established.

During the past year, Moise had been governing by decree after failing to hold elections, and in the past months, opposition demanded that he vacated the post, saying he was taking the country towards yet another dark period of authoritarianism.

Power Vacuum

Moise's murder has come in the midst of power vacuum. Currently, the country has no president or working parliament and two men are claiming to be in charge as prime minister.

This week, Moise had nominated Ariel Henry as interim prime minister in place of Joseph Claude, but he has yet to be sworn in. And the Supreme Court’s chief justice, who has a critical role to help provide stability amid a crisis, died recently of COVID-19.

In an interview to AP, Joseph said he had spoken to Henry three times and they mutually agreed that he is the interim prime minister for now.

“He was actually designated but never took office,” Joseph said of Henry in the interview. “I was the one who was the prime minister, who was in office. This is what the law and the constitution says.”

However, in a separate AP interview, Henry appeared to contradict Joseph. “It’s an exceptional situation. There is a bit of confusion,” he said. “I am the prime minister in office.”

Foreign Angle

Haiti's allegation that the assassination had foreign links gradually proved to be correct.

Colombia’s defense minister Diego Molano also said at least six members of the hit squad were apparently former Colombian soldiers, and that he had issued orders to the army and police to assist the probeigation.

“The initial information indicates that they are Colombian citizens, retired members of the national army,” Molano said in a video sent to news media.

One of the men arrested has been identified as a Haitian-American US citizen named James Solages, Haiti’s minister of elections told the Associated Press.

The US State Department could not confirm if a US citizen was among those arrested.

Haitian police identified another Haitian-Americans, Joseph Vincent, 55, as one of the heavily armed attackers.

Interpol had sought information on former soldiers from for their alleged participation in the assassination, Colombia Defence Minister Diego Molano said in a press conference on Thursday.

According to Reuters, two US law enforcement sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that agencies were trying to ascertain if there are US connections to the killing, but refused to comment specifically on the two Haitian-American suspects.