More than 20 people died and at least 15 were injured in an attack by the Gran Grif armed gang in the town of Pont Sonde in Haiti, local sources reported this Thursday (03.10.2024).
It is not ruled out that the number of victims will increase after the raid led this morning by the Gran Grif gang, based in the town of Savien (Petite Riviere, Artibonite), and which has forced the population of the affected area to flee en masse and take refuge in the public square of the city of Saint-Marc.
The injured are receiving treatment in health centers, especially at the Saint Nicolas hospital in Saint-Marc, a town located a hundred kilometers from Port-au-Prince.
Since this morning, the armed group controls the Pont Sonde area, in the Haitian department of Artibonite.
Given this situation, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security announced that the corresponding instructions were given to the Haitian National Police in order to “restore order and put out of action all those who sow terror in the department of Artibonite.”
«These crimes will not go unpunished. The perpetrators and their accomplices will be pursued to the last trench,” according to a statement from that Ministry, which reiterates its determination to take “all necessary measures to restore peace to the country and so that the population can dedicate themselves to their activities freely.”
This attack comes a few days after the sanctions announced by the United States and the UN against the leader of the Great Grif, known as Luckson Elan.
Internal displacement in Haiti
Haiti suffers extreme violence from armed gangs, which has led thousands of people to leave their homes to escape insecurity.
According to the latest report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 700,000 people – more than half of them children – are currently internally displaced in Haiti.
The latest figures show a 22% increase in internally displaced people since June, worsening the humanitarian situation.
In the past seven months, gang violence has forced more than 110,000 people to flee their homes, especially in Gressier, west of the capital.
The majority of those displaced in Haiti, around 75%, are currently taking refuge in the country’s provinces, and only the Great South region hosts 45% of all these people.
In a recent report, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) indicated that at least 1,379 people were victims of violence by armed gangs in Haiti, including deaths and injuries, during the second quarter of 2024, bringing to almost 3,900 victims, adding those in the first half of the year.
In 2023, violence also caused 8,000 deaths and injuries in Haiti, according to UN figures.
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