Overview:
Regardless of the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) deploying reinforcements and killing a minimum of 30 gang members following an assault on Mirebalais within the Central Plateau Division, armed teams stay at massive within the metropolis as of Tuesday morning. The gang assault freed over 500 inmates, persevering with the sample of jail breaks noticed in Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets round this time final 12 months. Residents, fearing for his or her lives, proceed to flee the city, highlighting the gangs’ rising territorial management.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s Nationwide Police deployed reinforcements to Mirebalais on Monday, March 31, after armed gangs from Canaan stormed the town, freed lots of of inmates from the native jail and clashed with police in a violent takeover that has left the town underneath siege.
At the least 30 gang members had been killed within the clashes, in accordance with the Nationwide Community for the Protection of Human Rights (RNDDH). Three law enforcement officials had been additionally injured, although their accidents weren’t life-threatening, a Ministry of Protection official for the Centre division instructed The Haitian Occasions.
Regardless of the police response, authorities say armed teams stay within the metropolis, persevering with to terrorize residents and forcing hundreds to flee towards close by cities, together with Lascahobas, Belladère and Hinche.
“The bandits are nonetheless within the metropolis,” a Ministry of Protection official for the Centre division instructed The Haitian Occasions, requesting anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. “All through the night, folks continued leaving, heading towards Lascahobas, Belladère, Thomonde, and Hinche. Many have already reached Cap-Haïtien.”
Mirebalais, a city of practically 200,000 residents in Haiti’s Central Plateau Division, is situated about 40 miles northeast of Port-au-Prince. It’s house to the nation’s most fashionable hospital—Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM)— which receives lots of of sufferers from throughout Haiti each day. The city sits on the intersection of two foremost roads: one main north from Port-au-Prince to the coast and one other main east to the Dominican Republic.
Police battle to regain management
The assault, which focused Mirebalais’ civil jail, freed over 500 inmates, echoing the same gang assault in March 2024, when the “Viv Ansanm” gang coalition stormed the Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets prisons, releasing practically 4,000 prisoners. The gangs additionally raided the Mirebalais hospital, placing workers and sufferers in danger, and launched assaults on residential neighborhoods.
Authorities have but to launch an official dying toll or a full evaluation of the destruction triggered.
In response, the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) deployed specialised items to bolster the native police station and seek out armed teams.
“The Haitian Nationwide Police is absolutely mobilized to offer a proportional response to the legal actions of armed gangs trying to destabilize the inhabitants,” stated a police statement.
Regardless of these reinforcements, gangs stay lively in Mirebalais, participating in continued shootouts with legislation enforcement.
Warning indicators ignored? The lead-up to the assault
The gangs had lengthy threatened an assault on Mirebalais, however the assault got here after heightened surveillance by authorities on suspicious autos and just lately cleared transport containers.
On March 10, native police arrested a dozen suspects from the Canaan, a slum situated north of downtown Port-au-Prince, on suspicion of working with armed teams— notably the gang led by infamous Jeff “ Gwo Lwa” Larose. Compromising messages had been discovered on their telephones. The day earlier than, two people had been lynched after resisting a routine police examine. Authorities additionally seized three assault rifles and over 10,000 rounds of ammunition.
The Departmental Delegate of the Centre Division, Frédérique Occéan, stated the assault was possible in retaliation for a serious weapons bust on the Belladère customs workplace, the place authorities confiscated firearms, ammunition, cash, and autos.
“The primary place the bandits attacked was the jail, to free all of the suspects we had arrested,” Occéan defined. “We knew we might attain this level, given the battle we’re waging in opposition to those that promote weapons within the nation and cross Mirebalais with them to go to Port-au-Prince.”
Residents flee as gangs tighten grip
Residents describe a metropolis overwhelmed by violence. Movies of households massively exiting the city to avoid wasting their lives have made rounds on social media.
“The gangs invaded us abruptly,” a neighborhood resident instructed The Haitian Occasions. “There have been rumors they’d assault, however we didn’t know it will occur so rapidly.”
Others are desperately searching for methods to get their households out. One Port-au-Prince resident, whose household stays trapped in Mirebalais, despatched an SOS message to the newspaper.
“My family members have fled. They left utterly for their very own security,” he stated, urging authorities to tighten border safety at Belladère, which has turn into a serious smuggling route.
The Terre Rouge sub-police station, deserted for over a 12 months, was first taken over, then set on hearth by the gangs who’ve since settled in Morne-à-Cabris, about 16 miles from Mirebalais. Residents had been warned of an imminent assault through social media ten days earlier than the March 31 assault.
One other assault in an escalating battle
That is a minimum of the eighth main gang assault because the starting of 2025, signaling their intent to broaden past current strongholds.
Among the many most vital current assaults:
- In Kenscoff (February), gangs from Carrefour, Grand Ravin, and Village de Dieu stormed the city.
- In Delmas 30 and Delmas 19 (March), gangs superior regardless of police resistance, focusing on the Christ-Roi district.
- In Artibonite, a Kenyan police officer was ambushed and killed.
- In Léogâne, Morne-à-Cabris, Carrefour Feuille, and Pétion-Ville, assaults have turn into routine, forcing hundreds to flee.
In accordance with accessible information, a minimum of 150 civilians, together with newborns, have been killed in current months. Three Haitian legislation enforcement officers had been shot useless, and three extra had been wounded, along with casualties and fatalities within the ranks of the Kenya-led Multinational Safety Help Mission (MSS).
Subsequent steps: Can Mirebalais be secured?
With over a million Haitians displaced by gang violence, the scenario in Mirebalais highlights the pressing want for coordinated motion. Whereas the federal government has promised a safety crackdown, little progress has been made in stopping additional gang growth.
Consultants recommend three fast priorities:
- Stronger border controls – Weapons smuggling through Belladère and different routes should be curbed to restrict gang firepower.
- Everlasting police presence – Mirebalais and different at-risk areas want sustained police reinforcements, not simply emergency deployments.
- Group engagement – Residents and native brigades ought to be geared up to help in securing their neighborhoods.
Till significant motion is taken, Mirebalais—like many components of Haiti—stays underneath gang menace, with no clear finish to the violence in sight.