A human rights organization says at least 70 people were killed and 30 injured in a brutal gang assault on communities in Haiti’s Artibonite region, a toll far higher than early official figures. Local police initially reported 16 deaths and 10 injured, and civil protection authorities later put the count at 17 dead and 19 wounded.
The Collective Defending Human Rights group described the incident as a massacre and said nearly 6,000 residents were forced from their homes. The organization criticized local officials for an inadequate security response, saying the failure to protect the population amounts to neglect of duty.
A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack at a briefing, noting that reported death estimates have varied widely, from about 10 to as many as 80 victims. The spokesman said the incident highlights the severity of the security crisis in Haiti and called for a full, transparent investigation.
Local civil protection officials said armed members of the Gran Grif gang carried out the assault in the Jean-Denis area at around 3 a.m. on Sunday. Artibonite, an important agricultural region, has seen some of the worst violence as gang activity spreads beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The attack comes after UN reporting that more than 2,000 people were displaced by similar gang raids in nearby Verrettes, which also prompted people in Petite-Rivière to flee. In March, the United States offered a reward of up to $3 million for information on the financial networks of the Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm groups; both organizations have been designated as terrorist entities by Washington.
Haitian security forces, supported by a UN-backed international mission and a US private military contractor, have intensified operations against gangs that control much of the capital. Despite these efforts, no major gang leader has been captured. Since 2021, gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than one million people, worsened food insecurity, and is believed to have caused nearly 20,000 deaths, with the toll rising each year.
Human rights groups and international officials are urging authorities to investigate the latest assault thoroughly, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to increase protections for civilians in affected regions.