More than 70 die in coordinated gang attack in Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite
The UN reports at least 70 deaths in a "brutal and coordinated" gang attack in Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite. Police cited 16 deaths on Monday, but the toll has risen rapidly.
UN warns: at least 70 die in gang attack in Artibonite
At least 70 people were killed during the night of Saturday to Sunday in a coordinated gang attack in the Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite zone in Haiti, according to franceinfo.fr. The UN representative in the country, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, confirmed this toll on Tuesday, while the Haitian police had cited only 16 deaths in an initial assessment they gave on Monday.
"At least 70 people have died in a brutal and coordinated attack against several localities in Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite: this blind violence is a new urgent reminder for strengthened support for Haiti against the scourge of gangs and the networks that support them," Ruiz Massieu wrote on X.
Gang "Gran Grif" at centre of attack
According to Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission on Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save Artibonite — a civil society organisation — the "Gran Grif" gang led the attack on the locality situated in the north-west of Port-au-Prince. Several other sources had already suggested a higher toll, particularly after another attack that occurred in the early hours of Monday.
Haitian police gave a figure of 16 deaths on Monday, but various testimonies and information from centres such as the Artibonite Commission showed the actual toll clearly exceeded the initial official figure.
Context: gang violence has ravaged Haiti for years
A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, published last week, indicates that gang violence and attacks against such groups in Haiti caused more than 5,500 deaths between March 2025 and mid-January. Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has suffered for several years from violence by criminal gangs that commit assassinations, rape, looting and kidnapping.
The Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite attack is among the most serious in recent months, and confirms an escalation in the level of coordination and ferocity of gang operations in the Artibonite department.
Source: Google News HT — Crime