Gang violence kills 16, hurts 10 in Haiti town: police

At least 16 people were killed and 10 injured in an attack in Petite-Riviere, in Haiti’s breadbasket Artibonite region, amid a conflict with the Gran Grif gang, police said.

A preliminary report by local civil protection authorities said the death toll was higher, with 17 dead and 19 injured.

Local civil protection officials said armed members of the Gran Grif gang attacked the Jean-Denis area around 3 a.m.

The attack follows United Nations reports that recent armed raids near Verrettes have displaced more than 2,000 people and sent Petite-Riviere residents fleeing their homes.

The Artibonite region, a major agricultural region, has been the scene of some of the country’s worst violence, as gang clashes spread beyond the capital Port-au-Prince.

In March, the United States offered a reward of up to US$3 million ($4.4 million) for information about the financial activities of the Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm groups.

The United States has designated both as terrorist organizations, representing coalitions of hundreds of gangs.

Haitian security forces, backed by a United Nations-backed international mission and a private US military company, have intensified operations against gangs that control much of the capital.

But authorities have yet to arrest any major gang leaders.

More than a million people have been displaced due to clashes with gangs that have worsened food insecurity, and close to 20,000 people have been reported killed in Haiti since 2021.

The number of deaths increased every year.