Armed gangs have killed dozens of people and displaced nearly 6,000 residents in coordinated attacks on Haiti’s Artibonite department, the country’s principal agricultural region, in one of the deadliest incidents of gang violence to strike rural Haiti in recent months.
The assault, carried out by the Gran Grif gang, began in the early hours of Sunday March 29 in rural communities around Jean-Denis near Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite, and continued into Monday morning, spreading to the Pont-Sondé area. Gunmen stormed multiple localities simultaneously, shooting civilians indiscriminately and setting homes ablaze.
Haitian law enforcement confirmed at least 16 deaths on Sunday. Rights groups Défenseurs Plus and the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) estimated the toll had risen to as many as 70 by Monday, with some advocacy groups warning the number could exceed 100 as the violence continued to unfold. A spokesperson for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General said estimates received by the UN ranged from 10 to 80 people killed, and strongly condemned the attacks.
Bertide Horace, a spokesperson for the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission to Save the Artibonite Valley, told CNN that gang members split into groups, blocking roads and digging trenches to cut off entry and exit routes, effectively trapping residents. Her team recovered 30 bodies across multiple locations. Medical teams in the nearby town of Saint-Marc treated at least 15 injured victims, including a 13-year-old, with several requiring major surgery.
Défenseurs Plus said at least 50 homes were reduced to ashes and nearly 6,000 people were forced to flee to surrounding communities in what the rights group described as inhumane conditions. Haitian police said they deployed three armoured vehicles to the area, though they were initially slowed by trenches dug by the attackers in the road. Security forces arrived to find gang members already retreating, with several houses already destroyed.
The UN urged Haitian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, saying the attacks underscored the gravity of the security situation facing ordinary Haitians. Amnesty International described the killings as part of a broader pattern of unchecked violence and called for urgent collaboration between Haitian authorities and the international community.
The latest massacre comes ahead of the expected arrival in April of a new UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), which is set to replace the underfunded Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission that has struggled to enter areas under gang control. The United States designated Gran Grif and the broader Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations last year and in March offered a reward of up to USD 3 million for information on their financial activities.
The Artibonite region, widely known as Haiti’s breadbasket, is the country’s main agricultural zone and critical to national food security. Sustained gang control of the area threatens food supply routes and deepens a humanitarian crisis that has already displaced more than 1.4 million people nationally. UN data shows that more than 5,500 people were killed between March 2025 and January 2026 in clashes involving gangs, security forces, and vigilante groups. Gran Grif carried out a massacre in nearby Pont-Sondé in October 2024 that killed more than 100 people.
Residents say returning home remains impossible given the continued presence of armed groups, with entire communities left devastated and livelihoods destroyed.
