At least 70 killed in Haiti massacre, rights group says, far exceeding official toll

At least 70 killed in Haiti massacre, rights group says, far exceeding official toll

PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 30 (Reuters) – At least ​70 people were killed and 30 injured during an attack near Petite-Riviere in Haiti’s breadbasket Artibonite region, a human rights group ‌said on Monday, significantly higher than official estimates which put the death toll at around 16.

Residents and officials told local media the attack began in the early hours Sunday in rural communities around Jean-Denis, and continued into the early hours of Monday, with gang members storming the area and setting homes on fire.

The Defenseurs Plus rights ​group said it estimated 6,000 people had been displaced by the violence. The U.N. estimated that more than 2,000 people left their ​homes in the days prior following raids by armed gangs nearby.

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Police initially reported 16 dead and 10 injured, while ⁠a preliminary report from civil protection authorities said 17 had died and 19 were wounded, mostly men.

A spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General told ​a press briefing the organization’s office in Haiti, BINUH, was closely monitoring the events and that estimates ranged from 10 to 80 people killed. He ​called for a thorough investigation.

“The lack of a security response and the abandonment of Artibonite to armed groups demonstrate a complete abdication of responsibility by the authorities,” Defenseurs Plus said in a joint statement with the Collective to Save the Artibonite.

An audio message circulated on social media was attributed to Gran Grif leader Luckson Elan. ​In the message, Elan appears to say the attack was retaliation for attacks on their base in Savien by a rival armed group.

The ​Artibonite department, a key agricultural area, has seen some of Haiti’s worst violence. Gang conflict has extended beyond the capital Port-au-Prince despite more aggressive policing and promises of more ‌foreign ⁠support for Haiti’s security forces.

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Haiti’s National Police said it deployed three armored vehicles, which were slowed by holes that gang members dug in the road. Officials said the armed group was fleeing the area when police arrived, and several houses were already burned down.

The injured were then taken to a local hospital and the dead to two morgues, said police, adding they have launched an operation to track down the gang members ​who fled.

Close to 20,000 ⁠people have been killed in Haiti since 2021, according to a recent U.N. report, with the death toll rising each year, as increasingly independent and powerful armed gangs have clashed with security forces and local vigilante groups.

Gran Grif ​and Viv Ansanm, which groups together hundreds of gangs in the capital, have been designated terrorist organizations ​by Washington. The ⁠groups have been accused of mass killings, gang rapes, arson, theft and trafficking guns, drugs and organs.

This month, the U.S. offered a reward of up to $3 million for information on their financial activities.

The weekend’s attack marks the latest of a series of massacres in the area, largely attributed to Gran Grif. In ⁠October 2024, ​a Gran Grif attack on the nearby town of Pont-Sonde left 115 dead, as armed ​men shot residents door to door.