Overview:
A resident was killed and the native police station was burned when the Kokorat San Ras gang attacked Marchand-Dessalines early Thursday, July 17. Residents say the city, like many others within the Artibonite Division, might quickly fall fully below gang management as the federal government stays silent.
GONAÏVES — A gang assault on the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH) station in Marchand-Dessalines—a historic city within the decrease Artibonite Division—left one resident, a well known skilled welder known as Boss Billy, lifeless, and the police station in ruins on Thursday, July 17, as armed teams proceed increasing their management throughout Artibonite and past.
The assault, carried out early morning Thursday by the Kokorat San Ras gang, pressured law enforcement officials to flee, disrupted college students taking their official state exams and unfold panic amongst residents. A state of affairs that has raised fears that the Marchand-Dessalines commune might quickly fall fully into gang management. The police station was looted and set ablaze, together with a number of bikes and a patrol car. On the time of the assault, solely three officers—together with one inspector—have been stationed there, based on native authorities.
“It was predictable that the bandits would assault Marchand-Dessalines, regardless of quite a few requests to Artibonite police management for reinforcements,” stated Dunelson Duval, deputy delegate for the district.
The assault got here as college students sat for the ultimate day of Haiti’s nationwide baccalaureate exams. Amid the gunfire, many have been pressured to flee with their households.
“Armed teams now encompass the commune of Dessalines,” Duval stated in an interview with The Haitian Occasions. “The disruption of the official state exams provides to the worry and displacement already affecting the inhabitants.”
Regardless of residents erecting makeshift barricades in surrounding neighborhoods, the gang—based mostly in neighboring l’Estère—encountered little resistance. Some locals expressed suspicion that the assault was coordinated with the Gran Grif gang, which has been concerned in clashes with native protection coalitions within the area.
“We consider this was a strategic transfer handy over Marchand-Dessalines to Kokorat San Ras,” stated one resident, who requested anonymity for worry of reprisal.
Historic city, rising risk
Marchand-Dessalines, as soon as Haiti’s capital below Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines, is one in all a number of provincial communes now susceptible to full gang occupation. Others below siege embrace Estère, Gros-Morne, Liancourt and Pont-Sondé.
“We deplore these acts of vandalism,” stated a city corridor worker. “However there’s no actual will to ensure the security of our residents. It’s unacceptable that solely three law enforcement officials are assigned to guard a complete commune.”
No authorities officers or police spokespeople issued statements by Friday morning, and no reinforcements had arrived greater than 24 hours after the assault, residents confirmed for The Haitian Occasions.
Nationwide pattern: gangs broaden outdoors capital
The Marchand-Dessalines assault is the most recent in a string of gang takeovers in provincial cities. In latest months, teams from Canaan and Croix-des-Bouquets overran La Chapelle, whereas different gangs seized Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau. Artibonite and Centre departments at the moment are among the many most risky zones outdoors Port-au-Prince.
In accordance with the Heart for Evaluation and Analysis in Human Rights (CARDH), gangs now management a minimum of 30 neighborhoods nationwide—up from 28 simply months in the past. The growth is pushed largely by the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, which has dominated Port-au-Prince and is now pushing deeper into rural areas.
“It was predictable that the bandits would assault Marchand-Dessalines, regardless of quite a few requests to Artibonite police management for reinforcements.”
Dunelson Duval, deputy delegate for Marchand-Dessalines
A July 11 report from the UN Built-in Workplace in Haiti (BINUH) detailed 1,018 deaths throughout Artibonite, Centre, and Ganthier-Fonds Parisien between October 2024 and June 2025, with 213 folks injured and 620 kidnapped. Nationwide, a minimum of 3,141 folks have been killed between January and June 2025 alone—a part of a staggering 4,864 homicides recorded over the earlier 9 months.
“Violence has sharply elevated in latest months, notably in Decrease Artibonite and the Centre,” the BINUH report acknowledged. “Gangs proceed to broaden alongside key transit routes, together with towards the Dominican Republic.”
Authorities’s silence amid rising disaster
Regardless of the mounting violence, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils Aimé and the Transitional Presidential Council have but to touch upon the Dessalines assault. The Prime Minister returned from a U.S. journey Thursday—the identical day because the assault—and acknowledged in a press launch that he had secured guarantees of help from U.S. officers for the Haitian police and the Multinational Safety Help Mission (MSS).
Within the statement, Aimé known as for the accelerated deployment of MSS personnel and extra tools for the PNH. However up to now, none of these guarantees have materialized on the bottom.
In the meantime, the city of Marchand-Dessalines stays with out safety forces, and gunfire reportedly continued into Thursday night time.
“We’re being left to fend for ourselves,” stated one resident. “If there isn’t a quick intervention, this city will fall like so many others.”
Because the demise toll rises and extra communities fall silent below the burden of gang rule, Haitian residents proceed to attend for the state’s guarantees of safety to imply one thing past phrases.