Haiti’s security forces were locked in a fierce gun battle on Wednesday with assailants who assassinated President Jovenel Moise at his home overnight, plunging the already impoverished, violence-wracked nation deeper into chaos.

The police had killed four of the “mercenaries” and captured two more, police general director Leon Charles said on Wednesday, adding that security forces would not rest until they had all been dealt with.

“We blocked them en route as they left the scene of the crime,” he said.