Saint Marc, Haiti
AP
—
Heavily armed gangs attacked a central Haiti region over the weekend, killing men, women and children as gangs torched houses and forced survivors to flee into the darkness.
Police say 50% of the Artibonite area is now under gang control and have appealed for emergency assistance following large-scale attacks targeting towns such as Bercy and Pont Sonde.
SPNH-17, one of Haiti’s police unions, said on Sunday X that “people cannot live, work or travel” and that “the loss of the country’s two largest sectors, the Western and Artibonite departments, is the biggest security failure in Haiti’s modern history.”
Most of Haiti’s police force and the Kenyan officers who lead the UN-backed mission to fight gangs are in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which itself is largely controlled by gangs.
Pon Zonde official Gerby Simeus told The Associated Press by phone on Monday that he had confirmed the deaths of more than a dozen people, including a mother and child and a local official.
“The gangs are still in Pong Zonde,” he said, noting that additional police had not arrived.
Many survivors took refuge in the coastal town of Saint-Marc, where hundreds of angry people on Monday demanded government action against gangs that have repeatedly attacked central Haiti.
“Give me a gun! Fight the gangs!” said Rene Charles, who survived the attack. “We must stand up and fight!”
The crowd tried to break into the mayor’s office, and one unidentified man told The Associated Press: “We’re not going to rely on the government anymore,” and “We’re going to take justice into our own hands!”
Political activist Charlesma Jean Marcos said the gang announced last week that it intended to invade the area. He said authorities had warned to no avail.
“Right now, the only ones actually fighting (against gangs) are the Self-Defense Forces,” he said. “The country cannot run like this.”
Mr. Marcos called on all survivors sleeping on the streets and in public parks to sleep inside police stations and government offices until the government can recover Artibonite.
“Many people will go hungry,” he warned. “We can support you today, we can support you tomorrow, but we can’t support you forever.”
More than half of Haiti’s population is already experiencing critical levels of hunger or worse, gangs have blocked major roads and ongoing violence has displaced a record 1.4 million people.
The attacks in central Haiti began late Friday and late Saturday. Gang members will broadcast live on social media.
The attack has been attributed to the Grand Grif gang, which operates in the area and is responsible for the Pon Sonde attack in October 2024, one of the deadliest massacres in Haiti’s recent history, which left at least 100 people dead.
“I heard a lot of gunfire, a lot of gunfire,” the unidentified man told The Associated Press. He criticized the absence of police and said he was trapped inside the house all weekend until Monday morning.
“Why not send drones to Artibonite?” he said. “They’re just using drones in Port-au-Prince. I feel like this gang is special. They don’t want to crush this gang.”
A spokesperson for the Haitian National Police did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The Grand Grief is considered one of the most brutal gangs in Haiti. Its leader, Lacson Elan, was recently sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council and the U.S. government. Sanctions also targeted former lawmaker Profan Victor, who the United Nations accused of arming young people in the Artibonite region.
The United Nations said the number of killings in Haiti’s Artibonite and Center sectors rose dramatically this year, with 1,303 victims reported from January to August, compared to 419 in the same period in 2024.
“These assaults highlight the gang’s ability to consolidate control across the Center-to-Artibonite corridor amid limited law enforcement presence and logistical constraints,” said a recent UN report.
Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti’s Interim Presidential Council who was hit with U.S. sanctions last month and is calling for the ouster of the current prime minister, condemned the attack.
Regarding X, he wrote, “Blood continues to be shed and lives and property continue to be lost in the face of a government that has been unable to address the problems of the people for over a year,” adding, “Stability?!?”
