|
Another 50 people were injured as the Gran Grif gang burned
homes and cars in the town of Pont-Sondé, said Bertide Harace,
spokeswoman for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and
Awareness to Save the Artibonite.
“A lot of people ran and left the area,” she told Radio Kiskeya.
A video posted on social media shows a group of people fleeing
through the brush, with one woman who was out of breath saying,
“Nowhere to go. Nowhere to go.” In another video, dozens of
people start running through a street after hearing rumors that
the gang was approaching.
Harace and others criticized police in the nearby coastal city
of Saint-Marc, saying they did not mobilize to help people being
attacked in Pont-Sondé.
Venson François, a government prosecutor based in Saint-Marc,
called the attack a “massacre” in an interview with Radio
Caraïbes.
Dozens of people crowded around a hospital in Saint-Marc where
the injured were taken, with one man telling reporters that
local authorities are not doing enough to protect people.
The attack in Pont-Sondé was blamed on the Gran Grif gang. It
operates in the central Artibonite region, and experts have
described it as one of Haiti’s cruelest gangs. It has gained
control of more territory since 2022 under the leadership of
Luckson Elan, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department
last month.
In January 2023, the Gran Grif gang was accused of attacking a
police station in Liancourt, located near Pont-Sondé, and
killing at least six officers. Violence unleashed by the gang
also forced the closure of a hospital in February 2023 that
serves more than 700,000 people.
Former Haitian legislator Prophane Victor, who represented the
Artibonite department, began arming young men who eventually
formed the Gran Grif gang to secure his election and control
over the area, according to a U.N. report. The U.S. also
sanctioned Victor last month.
The gang has about 100 members and has been accused of crimes
including murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings, according to
the report.
While most of the gang violence is concentrated in the capital
of Port-au-Prince, it has spread in recent years to the
Artibonite region, where much of Haiti's food is produced.
All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
