Haiti's central region has been plunged into a new wave of terror after heavily armed gangs launched a large-scale assault over the weekend. The coordinated attacks, which began late Friday and continued into Saturday, have left a trail of death and destruction, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee their burning homes under cover of darkness.
Gangs Consolidate Control Amid Police Pleas
The violence targeted towns including Bercy and Pont-Sondé in the Artibonite region, a key agricultural area. Haitian police unions issued desperate emergency calls for backup, stating that 50% of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control following the onslaught. The SPNH-17 police union declared the situation a catastrophic security failure, noting the loss of Haiti's two largest departments, West and Artibonite, to armed groups.
Guerby Simeus, an official in Pont-Sondé, confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday that nearly a dozen people had been killed, including a mother and her child, as well as a local government employee. He stressed that gangs remained in control of the town and that no additional police reinforcements had arrived.
Survivors Flee and Demand Action
Many survivors escaped to the coastal town of Saint-Marc, where hundreds of angry protesters gathered on Monday to demand government action. "Give me the guns! I'm going to fight the gangs!" shouted Réné Charles, a survivor of the attack. The assaults were brazenly broadcast live on social media by the gang members themselves.
The attacks have been blamed on the notorious Gran Grif gang, which operates in the area. This same group was responsible for a massacre in Pont-Sondé in October 2024 that killed at least 100 people. One resident, who spoke anonymously, criticised the stark disparity in security resources, asking why drones were not deployed to Artibonite as they are in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
UN Reports Dramatic Rise in Killings
The UN has reported a dramatic increase in killings in Haiti's Artibonite and Centre departments this year. From January to August, 1,303 victims were reported, compared with 419 during the same period in 2024. A recent UN report warned that these assaults highlight the gangs' capacity to consolidate control across a corridor from the Centre to the Artibonite, exacerbated by limited law enforcement.
Gran Grif is considered one of Haiti's most brutal gangs. Its leader, Luckson Elan, along with former legislator Prophane Victor, have been sanctioned by both the UN Security Council and the US government for arming young men in the region.
The bulk of Haiti's police force and the Kenyan officers leading a UN-backed security mission remain concentrated in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which is itself largely under gang control. This has left peripheral regions dangerously exposed. Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti's transitional presidential council, condemned the government's inaction, stating that blood continues to flow in front of an authority incapable of addressing the population's problems.
