Gang massacre kills at least 12, displaces hundreds in Pont-Sondé, highlighting Haiti’s hollow state

PORT-AU-PRINCE —  One other lethal bloodbath in Pont-Sondé, a neighborhood close to Saint-Marc within the decrease Artibonite division, has once more underscored the transition authorities’s lack of ability to guard Haitians from more and more brazen armed teams, as gang violence continues spreading nationwide with little to no state resistance.

Residents of the fifth communal part of Saint-Marc have been attacked late Nov. 29 by gunmen recognized as members of the Gran Grif gang. At the very least 12 folks have been killed — together with six staff of the Artibonite Valley Improvement Group — about 20 others have been injured, and dozens of properties have been set ablaze, in keeping with neighborhood leaders. Greater than 500 residents fled in a single day to the Saint-Marc police station searching for help.

The assault resembles the Oct. 3, 2024, bloodbath in the identical space, throughout which Gran Grif gunmen armed with automated rifles slaughtered at the very least 70 folks and torched 45 properties, in keeping with the UN human rights office. Saturday’s assault provides to a protracted checklist of mass killings throughout the Artibonite, Port-au-Prince, and Centre areas, the place teams affiliated with the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, reminiscent of Gran Grif, Kokorat San Ras, Kraze Baryè, 400 Mawozo, amongst others,  have overrun complete communities whereas the state stays largely absent.

‘They went home to deal with’: authorities silent as killings persist nationwide

Witnesses stated Gran Grif gunmen swept by way of a number of neighborhoods, firing into properties and executing residents trying to flee. Movies shared by locals present households working below gunfire and gang members celebrating afterward.

“Effectively-known native entrepreneurs have been additionally executed by Gran Grif. Aged folks and infants remained locked inside their properties,” stated René Charles, president of the Visionary Planters’ Union of the Artibonite Valley. He stated the demise toll is prone to rise.

By early Sunday, households have been sleeping within the open at Saint-Marc’s Philippe Guerrier sq., whereas charred partitions and collapsed roofs smoldered in Pont-Sondé.

Neither the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH), the Presidential Transition Council (CPT), nor the federal government of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé had launched any details about the assault as of Monday morning. That silence mirrors official inaction after earlier atrocities in Artibonite, Port-au-Prince neighborhoods and rural communities within the Centre Plateau, notably Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau, the place gang-led massacres have grow to be frequent.

The lone public response got here from CPT member Fritz Alphonse Jean, who spoke “as a citizen,” calling for safety and criticizing the federal government as “unable to deal with the inhabitants’s issues for over a yr.”

“Blood continues to movement, and lives and property proceed to be misplaced,” Jean wrote on X, describing residents of Pont-Sondé and close by Bercy as “working below gunfire” by way of the night time.

Nonetheless, Jean, who’s below U.S. sanctions for alleged gang ties — accusations he denies — didn’t define any concrete actions from the CPT.

Police say they responded, however residents say assist got here too late

Saint-Marc district commissioner Nestor Ereste informed Le Nouvelliste that police weren’t idle and deployed armored autos and specialised items. However he acknowledged that the assailants maintained management all through the night time.

“With three armored autos and officers from specialised items, we’re striving to neutralize the outlaws,” Ereste stated. “Reinforcements have been despatched to Pont-Sondé this morning.”

A number of residents, nevertheless, stated warnings about uncommon gang actions went unheeded and that legislation enforcement arrived after the attackers had already withdrawn.

A area below siege as police chief praised his first 100 days in command

The bloodbath occurred lower than 24 hours after Haiti’s new police chief, Vladimir Paraison, held a press convention praising his first 100 days in workplace. Paraison cited “positive aspects” reminiscent of holding a Council of Ministers assembly on the Nationwide Palace and restricted progress in components of Carrefour, Lalue and Kenscoff.

However the PNH has not reclaimed a single gang-held territory, and no main Viv Ansanm chief has been arrested or neutralized. In Artibonite — the place Gran Grif and Kokorat San Ras dominate — police presence has not prevented gangs from overrunning communities, looting farms and displacing 1000’s.

Paraison stated the state of affairs in Désarmes, L’Estère and Pont-Sondé had “stabilized.” The subsequent day, Gran Grif razed properties and killed residents throughout Pont-Sondé’s susceptible communities.

The assault underscores the widening hole between official claims of progress and the fact on the bottom, the place prison teams proceed to function with near-total impunity.

Gran Grif’s rampage in Pont-Sondé joins a string of large-scale assaults throughout 2024–25 throughout:

• Decrease Artibonite, together with massacres in Verrettes, Liancourt and Petite Rivière.
• Port-au-Prince, in Solino, Delmas 18, Carrefour-Feuilles, Bel-Air and others.
• Centre Plateau, the place gangs increasing from Croix-des-Bouquets and Thomazeau have focused rural cities.

Throughout these areas, residents have repeatedly reported delayed or absent police response — whilst restricted United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Power (GSF) deployments proceed.

For survivors in Pont-Sondé, the Nov. 29 bloodbath isn’t just one other tragedy however additional proof that the transition authorities stays unable — or unwilling — to halt Haiti’s accelerating descent into gang rule.

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