Gang opens fire and kills at least 70 people – DW

The Haitian government has deployed anti-gang police units after gunmen carried out a mass shooting in a town near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince that killed at least 70 people and forced over 6,000 to flee.

“This heinous crime against defenseless women, men and children is an attack not only on the victims but on the entire Haitian nation,” Prime Minister Garry Conille said on X, adding that security forces were reinforcing the area.

What we know about the attack

According to local authorities, gang members opened fire with automatic rifles in the town of Pont Sonde on Thursday and later set fire to houses and vehicles.

“Members of the Gran Grif gang fired at the population with automatic rifles, killing at least 70 people, including about 10 women and three small children,” U.N. human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement on Friday.

The gang reportedly set fire to at least 45 homes and 34 vehicles, forcing many residents to flee.

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“The gang encountered no resistance,” said Bertide Horace, a spokesman for the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission to Save the Artibonite Valley, adding that police remained at their station because they feared they would outnumber the gang members.

Several people were shot in the head as the attackers went door to door, Horace said. “It was left to them to shoot everyone, everyone ran everywhere. They went around shooting people, killing people, burning people, burning houses, burning cars.”

Human rights groups estimate the death toll is higher.

Haiti's prime minister says the attack “requires an urgent, rigorous” response

Luckson Elan, leader of the Gran Grif gang, claimed responsibility for the massacre and said the massacre was a response to civilian silence as police and vigilantes killed his gang members.

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“This latest act of violence targeting innocent civilians is unacceptable and requires an urgent, rigorous and coordinated response from the state,” Prime Minister Garry Conille said in a statement.

Haitian police will “increase their efforts,” the statement said, adding: “Agents from the Temporary Anti-Gang Unit (UTAG) have been deployed as reinforcements to support the teams already on the ground.”

The attack is an indication of a worsening conflict in Haiti, where outbreaks of gang violence have claimed more than 3,500 lives since January alone.

mfi/kb (AFP, Reuters)