Only officers participating in specific operations will be authorized to wear such garments, in order to prevent a recurrence of the numerous kidnappings committed by criminals in uniform, the radio station emphasized.

Thus, according to the high command of the repressive force, the reinstatement of the regulation banning balaclavas, revived by the aforementioned directive, will only affect officers in specialized units, Radio Metropole added.

The ban, it clarified, allows the PNH Inspector General to reinstate certain measures adopted in 2008, which helped combat organized crime and kidnapping, a scourge against which numerous voices are being raised.

One police officer and two armed civilians were killed in a clash Monday near a major educational institution between the Honduran National Police (PNH) and suspected kidnappers involved in extortion.

Another armed individual was apprehended this weekend while preparing to commit a kidnapping, dressed as a member of the Judicial Police, while other attempted kidnappings were reported in the western capital district of Delmas.

Radio Metropole reported that most witnesses in cases in Port-au-Prince’s 31st and 75th districts indicated the involvement of individuals wearing police uniforms.

abo/jav/mem/apb