Michel Martelly, president of Haiti, says he was attacked in Port-au-Prince

Haitian President Michel Martelly and his motorcade were attacked this afternoon as the president took a walk in downtown Port-au-Prince, according to The Associate Press, which cited a statement from the National Palace.

According to the AP, the statement blamed “troublemakers” for the attack and said they had hid at a university. The attack took place as Martelly walked near the Champs de Mars.

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But the AP cited witnesses who said rocks were thrown at the president from behind the University of Haiti. One said Martelly was hit in the shoulder.

Stanley Lazard, 25, was quoted as saying Martelly "almost fell."

"Two security guards embraced him and put him in the car. He definitely got hit with a rock," Lazard was quoted as saying.

Students then clashed with Martelly's supporters, who toppled a fence and entered the campus, acording to the AP, which said students claimed the president's supporters had smashed car windows. A Haitian Red Cross bus was sent to remove a dozen students fro Brazil, France and Canada who had been attending a conference.

A police spokesman had no comment and a prosecutor who arrived at the scene both declined to comment this evening, according to the AP.

The event came days after President Martelly said he believed Haiti's police were not yet ready to replace Minustah, the UN peacekeeping force that currently provides security in the earthquake-striken nation, according to Caribbean Journal.