A rights organization reports that at least 70 people have been killed and 30 injured in an assault near Petite-Rivière in Haiti’s breadbasket region of Artibonite. This figure significantly exceeds official estimates, which cite approximately 16 deaths. Residents and local officials shared with media that the attack started in the early hours of Sunday in rural communities around Jean-Denis and persisted into Monday morning, with gang members storming the area and torching homes.
The Defenseurs Plus group estimates that around 6,000 individuals have been displaced due to the violence. The United Nations suggests that over 2,000 people fled their homes in the aftermath of clashes with armed gangs nearby. Initial police reports put the death toll at 16 with 10 injuries, while a preliminary civil protection assessment indicated 17 fatalities and 19 wounded, mostly men.
The UN Secretary-General’s office stated during a press briefing that its Haiti office, BINUH, is actively monitoring the situation. Estimates of casualties range from 10 to 80 deaths, and the office has called for a detailed investigation. A joint statement from Defenseurs Plus and the Collective to Save the Artibonite criticized the authorities for their failure to provide security, describing it as a complete abdication of responsibility and pointing to the abandonment of the Artibonite region to armed groups.
Social media circulating an audio message linked to Gran Grif’s leader, Luckson Elan, suggests the attack was retaliation for previous assaults on their base in Savien by a rival faction. Artibonite, a crucial agricultural zone, has seen some of Haiti’s most severe violence. Despite increased policing and promises of international assistance, gang conflicts have spread beyond Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.
Haiti’s National Police deployed three armored vehicles to respond; however, progress was hindered by trenches dug in roads by gangs. By the time police arrived, the gang members were fleeing, with several homes already destroyed by fire. The injured were transported to a local hospital, and the deceased to two morgues. Authorities have initiated efforts to apprehend the fleeing gang members.
According to Defenseurs Plus, approximately 50 houses have been set ablaze. A recent UN report indicates Haiti has experienced over 20,000 deaths since 2021, with casualties escalating each year amid confrontations involving increasingly autonomous and powerful armed gangs fighting security forces and vigilante groups. Notably, groups like Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm, which control hundreds of gangs in the capital, have been designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. They are accused of mass killings, sexual violence, arson, theft, and trafficking firearms, drugs, and organs.
This month, the U.S. announced a reward of up to $3 million for information related to their financial operations. The recent attack is part of a pattern of massacres attributed mainly to Gran Grif. In October 2024, a raid by the group in nearby Pont-Sonde resulted in 115 deaths, with armed men going door-to-door shooting residents. Over 1.4 million Haitians—roughly 12% of the nation’s population—have been displaced by gang violence, worsening the nation’s economic crisis and food shortages.
