70 massacred in western Haiti gang attack

KABUL (Pajhwok): A gang named ‘Gran Grif’ has killed 70 people and forced over 6,000 to flee in western Haiti, says a media report.

Gang members brandishing automatic rifles stormed through a town in Haiti's main breadbasket region, killing at least 70 and forcing over 6,000 to flee, Reuters reported.

More people were severely injured in the attack in the early hours of Thursday at Pont-Sonde, in the agricultural region of Artibonite in western Haiti.

Gran Grif gang leader Luckson Elan took responsibility for the massacre, saying it was in retaliation for civilians remaining passive while police and vigilante groups killed his soldiers.

Some 6,270 people had fled their homes due to the attacks, the UN migration agency said. Most of these are being sheltered by families living in nearby Saint-Marc and other towns, while others are staying in makeshift camps.

The gang members set fire to dozens of homes and vehicles, local authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks in recent years in the Caribbean nation that has seen many massacres and little justice for victims.

"This odious crime against defenseless women, men and children is not only an attack against victims but against the entire Haitian nation," Prime Minister Garry Conille said on X, adding that security forces were reinforcing the area.

sa/mud