At the least 70 individuals have been killed in a gang bloodbath in Haiti, the UN has mentioned.
Armed gunmen belonging to the Gran Grif gang handed by means of the city of Pont-Sonde with automated rifles, capturing at residents on Thursday, in accordance with the United Nations’ Human Rights Workplace.
“We are horrified by Thursday’s gang attacks in the town of Pont-Sonde in Haiti’s Artibonite region,” a spokesperson mentioned.
At the least 16 individuals had been additionally severely injured within the assault within the early hours of Thursday, in accordance with the UN.
Gang members had been mentioned to have set hearth to a minimum of 45 houses and 34 automobiles, forcing residents to flee.
Gang violence in Haiti is rampant and has introduced elements of the nation to a stand nonetheless.
Our bodies lay strewn on the streets of Pont-Sonde, within the Artibonite area, a lot of them shot within the head, a spokeswoman for the Fee for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Consciousness to Save the Artibonite, advised Magik 9 radio station.
Among the many victims had been a younger mom, her new child child, and a midwife, it was added.
In complete, it was mentioned that ten ladies and three youngsters had been among the many lifeless.
Video of the assault confirmed tons of operating for his or her lives.
The motive for one of many largest massacres within the nation’s central area in recent times stays unclear.
Assaults of that sort have taken place within the capital Port-au-Prince, which is 80% managed by gangs, and they’re usually linked to turf wars.
Whereas rival gang members typically goal areas managed by each other, Pont-Sonde is taken into account part of Gran Grif’s personal territory.
The Haitian authorities deployed an elite police unit primarily based within the nation’s capital to Pont-Sonde following the assault and despatched medical provides to the world’s lone hospital, overwhelmed by the handfuls of individuals injured.
“This heinous crime, perpetrated against defenceless women, men, and children, is not only an attack on these victims, but on the entire Haitian nation,” Prime Minister Garry Conille mentioned in an announcement Friday.
In an audio message shared on Thursday, Gran Grif chief Luckson Elan, who was sanctioned by the UN final month, blamed the state and victims for the assaults, accusing residents of remaining passive as his troopers had been killed by police or vigilante teams.
“It’s Pont-Sonde residents who are at fault. What happened in Pont-Sonde is the fault of the state,” he claimed with out proof.
Gang violence throughout Artibonite, which produces a lot of Haiti’s meals, has elevated in recent times.
