At least 70 killed, 30 wounded in Haiti gang attack, rights group says
At least 70 people have been killed and 30 injured in a violent gang attack near Petite-Riviere in Haiti’s agriculturally important Artibonite region, a human rights group said, far surpassing official reports of around 16 deaths.
Residents and local officials told media that the attack began in the early hours of Sunday in rural communities around Jean-Denis and continued into Monday, with armed gang members storming villages and setting homes ablaze.
The human rights group Defenseurs Plus estimated that roughly 6,000 people were displaced by the violence. The United Nations had previously reported that over 2,000 residents had fled nearby areas in the days prior due to armed gang activity.
Initial police reports cited 16 dead and 10 injured, while civil protection authorities recorded 17 fatalities and 19 wounded, mostly men. A spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said the UN mission in Haiti, BINUH, is closely monitoring the situation, noting death toll estimates ranging from 10 to 80, and called for a thorough investigation.
“The lack of a security response and the abandonment of Artibonite to armed groups demonstrate a complete abdication of responsibility by the authorities,” Defenseurs Plus said in a joint statement with the Collective to Save the Artibonite.
An audio message circulating on social media, attributed to Gran Grif leader Luckson Elan, reportedly claims the attack was retaliation for assaults on the group’s base in Savien by a rival armed faction.
The Artibonite region, a vital agricultural area, has witnessed some of Haiti’s worst violence, as gang conflicts have spread beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince, despite intensified policing and promises of international support for Haitian security forces.
Haiti’s National Police deployed three armored vehicles, but their progress was slowed by gang-dug holes in the roads. Authorities reported that the attackers had already fled and several homes were destroyed by the time police arrived. The injured were taken to local hospitals, and the deceased were transported to two morgues. Defenseurs Plus estimates around 50 homes were burned in the attack.
Since 2021, approximately 20,000 people have been killed in gang-related violence in Haiti, according to a UN report, with casualties increasing annually as gangs grow more powerful and independent. Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm, groups encompassing hundreds of gangs in the capital, have been designated “terrorist organizations” by the United States, accused of killings, arson, rape, and trafficking in guns, drugs, and human organs.
This month, the US offered up to $3 million in rewards for information on their financial operations.
The weekend attack is the latest in a series of massacres attributed to Gran Grif. In October 2024, an assault on the nearby town of Pont-Sonde left 115 dead as armed men shot residents door to door.
More than 1.4 million Haitians—about 12 percent of the country’s population—have been displaced by ongoing gang violence, exacerbating economic hardship and food insecurity across the nation.
Source: Reuters/ Al Jazeera
