Gangs launch large-scale attack in Haiti's central region as hundreds flee gunfire and burning homes

"Heavily armed gangs attacked Haiti's central region over the weekend, killing men, women and children as they set fire to homes and forced survivors to flee into the darkness. Police made emergency calls for backup, asserting that 50% of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control after the large-scale attacks targeting towns including Bercy and Pont-Sondé. "The population cannot live, cannot work, cannot move," one of Haiti's police unions, SPNH-17, said Sunday on X."

"The bulk of Haiti's police force and the Kenyan officers leading a U.N.-backed mission to help repel gangs are in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which itself is largely held by gangs. Guerby Simeus, a Pont-Sondé official, told The Associated Press by phone on Monday that he had confirmed nearly a dozen deaths, including a mother and her child and a local government employee. "The gangs are still in Pont-Sondé," he said, noting that no additional police had arrived."

""Give me the guns! I'm going to fight the gangs!" said Réné Charles, who survived the attack. "We've got to stand up and fight!" The crowd tried to break into the mayor's office with one unidentified man telling the AP that they weren't going to rely on the government any longer: "We're going to take justice into our own hands!" Charlesma Jean Marcos, a political activist, said the gang announced last week that they were going to invade the area,"

Armed gangs launched large-scale attacks across Haiti's central Artibonite region, killing men, women and children, setting homes on fire and forcing mass displacement. Police reported emergency calls for backup and asserted that roughly half of Artibonite fell under gang control, while the country's two largest departments face severe security collapse. Most national police and U.N.-backed Kenyan officers remain concentrated in Port-au-Prince, which is itself largely held by gangs. Survivors fled to Saint-Marc, where angry crowds demanded action, attempted to enter the mayor's office and said they would take justice into their own hands. Local activists said authorities were warned prior to the invasion.

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