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Police stand guard near the private residence of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise after he was shot dead by gunmen with assault rifles, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jul 7, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Estailove St-Val) - 

Haiti has asked Washington and the United Nations to send troops to help it secure its ports, airport and other strategic sites after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, a government minister said on Friday (Jul 9).

The United States has already said it will send the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agents to Port-au-Prince, two days after Moise was brutally killed by gunmen in his home, opening up a power vacuum in the impoverished and crisis-hit Caribbean nation.

In the wake of the slaying, "we thought that the mercenaries could destroy some infrastructure to create chaos in the country. During a conversation with the US Secretary of State and the UN we made this request", elections minister Mathias Pierre told AFP.

The US State Department and Pentagon both confirmed receiving a request for "security and investigative assistance" and said officials remain in contact with Port-au-Prince, but did not specify whether military troops would be deployed.

The UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Washington had signalled its willingness to help the Haitian investigation, and White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki added on Friday that senior FBI and other officials would be heading to the Caribbean as soon as possible.

Pierre confirmed that the request had been made as questions swirled on Friday about who could have masterminded the audacious assassination, with most members of a hit squad of Colombians and Americans either dead or in custody, and no clear motive made public.

Amid the uncertainty, two men are now vying to lead the country of 11 million people, more than half of whom are under age 20. There is no working parliament.

After days of paralysis in the capital, Port-au-Prince saw the timid return of people to the streets, shops opening and the resumption of public transport on Friday morning - but under a pall of apprehension.

People scrambled to stock up on basic necessities at supermarkets and lined up at gas stations to buy propane used for cooking in anticipation of more instability.

"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or the day after in the country, so I am preparing for bad days ahead," Port-au-Prince resident Marjory told AFP, as she and her husband stocked up on supplies at a store.

"I'm prioritising everything that can last for many days."

Gang violence, rife in the Caribbean nation, also picked up again on Friday, with clashes between groups paralysing traffic on a major highway.

The city's airport, shuttered in the wake of the attack, appeared to have reopened, according to Flightradar data//CNA