An attack against civilians in a small town in Haiti left at least 70 dead, several of them children, the UN Human Rights Office reported this Friday.
The shooting was attributed to members of the criminal gang Big Grifwhose men opened fire indiscriminately in the streets of Pont-Sondea small city located about 70 km northeast of Port-au-Prince.
Videos broadcast on the internet and local television show the inhabitants of Pont-Sondé trying to get to safety, running or on motorcycles, while The attackers open fire, some with automatic rifles.
Among the victims there were women, men and minors, including three babies. At least 16 other people were seriously injured. Some 3,000 inhabitants were forced to flee the place.
“We are horrified by Thursday’s gang attacks in the town of Pont-Sonde, in the Haitian department of Artibonite,” Thameen al Kheetan, a U.N. spokesman, said in a statement.
A government prosecutor called the attack “a massacre,” the AP agency reported.
Haitian police attempted to repel the gang members, hitting two attackers in the exchange of fire, according to the UN report.
The first reports also indicate that at least45 houses and 34 vehicles were burned.
“This hateful crime against defenseless women, men and children is not only an attack against the victims, but against the entire Haitian nation,” declared Prime Minister Garry Conille on his X account.
Conille added that security forces were “reinforcing their intervention” in the area. His office said the Saint-Marc public hospital was increasing its capacity to treat the wounded.
Why the attack?
Gran Grif is one of the most violent gangs in Haitia country that has been mired for years in violence and disputes between dangerous criminal organizations that have prospered alongside political instability.
In an audio message shared on social media, the group’s leader, Luckson Elan, blamed the State and the local residents themselveswhom he accused of remaining passive while his men have died in clashes with the police or with self-defense groups.
“It is the residents of Pont-Sonde who are to blame. What happened in Pont-Sonde is the fault of the State,” Elan said in the audio broadcast on WhatsApp and other platforms.
“I hope they understand that what happened is their fault,” is heard in the recording.
Another version indicates that the attack was in retaliation for the fact that the residents of that town had resisted the demands of the gang of pay extortion for the circulation of vehicles on National Route 1, the main highway that crosses the city from north to south.
The UN recently put Elan on its sanctions list. accuses him of murders, rapes, mass kidnappings, robberies, destruction of property, hijacking of trucks and forcing farmers to abandon their lands, threatening to kill them if they return.
“Great Grif has also carried out some of the largest child recruitment in Haiti,” according to the UN Security Council.
The gang has a hundred members in various regions of the island, according to a UN report
In January 2023, they attacked a police station near Pont-Sondé, killing six officers. They are also accused of having forced the closure of a hospital that provided health care for some 700,000 people.
The fight for control of Haiti
Thursday’s attack comes almost a month after Haitian authorities expanded a state of emergency to the entire country due to widespread violence.
criminal gangs They control large areas of Haitiwhich hosted a UN-backed police mission led by Kenyan officers in June in an attempt to regain control.
The arrival of more Kenyan officers to join the multinational police force has been delayed.
Prime Minister Conille has promised to crack down on criminal groups. He pledged this Friday to “restore order and authority” in his country.
The UN has stated that “vigorous use of force” is necessary.
The Haitian National Police announced in X that reinforcements from the UTAG anti-gang unit were deployed to assist officers already operating in Pont-Sondé.
click here to read more stories from BBC News World.
You can also follow us on YouTube, instagram, TikTok, x, Facebook and on our new channel WhatsAppwhere you’ll find breaking news and our best content.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.