NO CHANGE! Haiti Gang Attack Leaves 70 People Dead Amidst Kenya Police Presence
The Haitian government said Friday that it had deployed specialist anti-gang police units in response to an apparent massacre northwest of Port-au-Prince that the United Nations said killed at least 70 people.
The attack, which occurred early Thursday in the town of Pont Sonde, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital, also resulted in the destruction of numerous houses and vehicles after gang members opened fire.
“Members of the Gran Grif gang used automatic rifles to shoot at the population, killing at least 70 people, among them about 10 women and three infants,” UN Human Rights Office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement Friday.
#Haiti: Horrified by gang attacks in Pont Sondé, killing at least 70, including 10 women & 3 infants.
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) October 4, 2024
We call for increased international assistance to Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission, and prompt & thorough investigation.
The Haitian Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that “this latest act of violence, targeting innocent civilians, is unacceptable and demands an urgent, rigorous, and coordinated response from the state.”
The embattled Haitian National Police would be “stepping up its efforts,” according to the statement, adding that agents from the Temporary Anti-Gang Unit (UTAG) have been deployed as reinforcements to back up teams already on the ground.
The UN reported that at least 16 people had been seriously injured, including two gang members who were shot by police.
Gang members allegedly set fire to at least 45 houses and 34 vehicles, forcing an unknown number of residents to flee.
Additional security forces, supported by the Kenyan-led international policing mission stationed in the country, were sent to Pont Sonde overnight on Thursday and Friday, according to the prime minister’s office.
The attack occurred at 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, according to the report. Prime Minister Garry Conille condemned the perpetrators of the ‘heinous crime’.
“This is a heinous crime, perpetrated against defenceless women, men and children, is not only an attack on these victims but on the entire Haitian nation,” stated Conille.
Last week, the UN human rights office reported that more than 3,600 people had been killed in “senseless” gang violence in the country this year alone.
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The United Nations recently approved the Kenyan-led policing mission, which aims to assist the government in securing large areas of the capital and countryside under gang control.
Haiti has long been plagued by escalating political, humanitarian, and gang crises, with armed groups rising up to depose then-prime minister Ariel Henry earlier this year, resulting in attacks on the international airport and police stations.
Many politicians have ties to armed groups; last week, the US Treasury sanctioned a member of parliament from the Artibonite Department, which includes Pont Sonde.
He is accused of forming the Gran Grif gang to help him win the 2016 election.
NO CHANGE! Haiti Gang Attack Leaves 70 People Dead Amidst Kenya Police Presence
