Deadly Gang Attacks Sweep Central Haiti as Artibonite Region Falls Further Into Insecurity
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Heavily armed gangs launched large-scale attacks across central Haiti over the weekend, killing civilians and forcing mass displacement, The Guardian reported. Police issued urgent calls for reinforcements, warning that half of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control following coordinated assaults on communities including Bercy and Pont-Sond\u00e9.<\/p>\n
A police union, SPNH-17, said residents can no longer safely work or move through the region, calling the loss of Haiti\u2019s West and Artibonite departments \u201cthe greatest security failure in modern Haitian history.\u201d Most of Haiti\u2019s police forces\u2014along with Kenyan officers deployed under a UN-backed mission\u2014remain concentrated in the capital, Port-au-Prince, itself largely controlled by armed groups.<\/p>\n
Local officials in Pont-Sond\u00e9 reported nearly a dozen confirmed deaths so far, including a mother and child, while survivors fled toward the coastal city of Saint-Marc. Hundreds of residents there protested on Monday, demanding decisive government action. Some vowed to defend their communities themselves, expressing frustration over the lack of security support.<\/p>\n
Political activist Charlesma Jean Marcos said residents had warned authorities of an impending gang incursion but received no response. He urged displaced families to take shelter inside police stations and government buildings until security can be restored, noting that humanitarian aid in the area is already stretched thin.<\/p>\n
More than half of Haiti\u2019s population faces acute hunger, and gang violence has displaced a record 1.4 million people. The weekend assaults, blamed on the Gran Grif gang\u2014responsible for one of Haiti\u2019s deadliest massacres in 2024\u2014were livestreamed on social media. UN data indicates killings in Artibonite and Centre have more than tripled compared with last year, reflecting expanding gang control amid limited law enforcement capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deadly Gang Attacks Sweep Central Haiti as Artibonite Region Falls Further Into Insecurity ………….. Heavily armed gangs launched large-scale attacks across central Haiti over the weekend, killing civilians and forcing mass displacement, The Guardian reported. Police issued urgent calls for reinforcements, warning that half of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control following coordinated …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[10353],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-haiti"],"yoast_head":"\n