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At least 15 other people were injured by gunfire, and more than
a dozen homes were burned in Petite Rivière, said Bertide
Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue,
Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite.
The attack began Thursday, but police were still battling gang
members on Monday, she said in a phone interview.
Horace shared grisly videos that showed people receiving
treatment for serious wounds at a local hospital.
Before she could provide further details, Horace warned that the
town being attacked was without power. Her cellphone was then
cut off.
A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not immediately
return a request for comment.
Petite Rivière is the latest community in the once peaceful
Artibonite region that gangs have targeted.
In late March, gangs struck the city of Mirebalais and stormed a
local prison, freeing more than 500 inmates. They also attacked
the nearby town of Saut d’Eau, considered a sacred place that
attracts thousands of Haitians annually for a Vodou-Catholic
pilgrimage.
While gangs control at least 85% of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s
capital, they have launched attacks in the country’s central
region in recent years.
On Monday, Chrisla, the powerful leader of the Ti Bois gang,
announced a three-day strike in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood
of Carrefour, which has been bereft of any government presence
since gangs seized control of it in recent years.
He ordered public transportation and private businesses to
close, saying only hospitals and firefighters were authorized to
operate.
Chrisla also said he wanted a new Haiti “so that we can all sit
at the same table to reconcile this nation.”
Haiti’s government leaders have repeatedly said they would not
negotiate with gangs or include them in any discussions aimed at
helping stabilize the troubled country.
A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that began last year
to help Haitian police quell violence has struggled in its fight
against gangs.
More than 5,600 people were killed across Haiti last year, with
gang violence leaving more than one million people homeless.
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