Gangs Seize Large Parts of Haiti’s Artibonite: Homes Burned, Hundreds Flee

Heavily armed gangs launched coordinated assaults across Haiti's central Artibonite region over the weekend, killing civilians, setting homes ablaze and forcing hundreds to flee into the night. Local officials and police unions reported that roughly half of the department is now under gang control after attacks on towns including Bercy and Pont-Sondé.

“The population cannot live, cannot work, cannot move,” the police union SPNH-17 wrote on X, warning that losing control of the West and Artibonite departments represents a historic security collapse.

Most national police resources and the Kenyan officers who lead a UN-backed mission remain concentrated in the capital, Port‑au‑Prince, leaving central regions thinly protected. Guerby Simeus, an official in Pont-Sondé, said he had confirmed nearly a dozen deaths, including a mother and her child and a local government employee, and that gangs remained in the town with no additional police reinforcements reported.

Survivors poured into the coastal town of Saint‑Marc, where hundreds protested and demanded urgent government action. Anger boiled over as crowds tried to force entry into the mayor’s office; one survivor, Réné Charles, said: “Give me the guns! I’m going to fight the gangs! We’ve got to stand up and fight!”

Political activist Charlesma Jean Marcos said the gang had warned of an invasion days earlier and that authorities had been alerted but failed to respond. He urged displaced people sleeping in streets and parks to take shelter temporarily inside police stations and government buildings until control can be restored, while warning that food and other aid will be limited.

More than half of Haiti’s population is already experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse, and ongoing violence has displaced a record 1.4 million people. Main roads blocked by armed groups have further disrupted aid and commerce, deepening the humanitarian emergency.

The assaults began late Friday and continued into Saturday, with some attackers broadcasting parts of the attacks on social media. Local officials and witnesses blamed the violence on the Gran Grif gang, which was also responsible for an October 2024 attack on Pont‑Sondé that killed at least 100 people.

Gran Grif’s leader, Luckson Elan, and former legislator Prophane Victor have been sanctioned by the United Nations and the United States in connection with violence and arms flows in the region. A UN assessment reports a dramatic rise in killings across the Artibonite and Centre departments this year: 1,303 victims were recorded from January through August, compared with 419 over the same period last year.

“These assaults underscore the capacity of gangs to consolidate control across a corridor from the Centre to the Artibonite amid limited law enforcement presence and logistical constraints,” a recent UN report concluded.

Critics have questioned the government’s response, noting that surveillance assets and international personnel are largely focused on Port‑au‑Prince. Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, condemned the violence and called attention to continuing loss of life and property amid a government perceived as unable to protect civilians.

No immediate comment was received from Haiti’s National Police regarding reinforcements or specific plans to retake affected towns.

What to watch next

- Whether national and international security forces will reallocate resources to Artibonite.
- Humanitarian access to displaced families and the scale of urgent needs for food, shelter and medical aid.
- Any further consolidation of gang control or local self‑defense actions that could escalate violence.