Haitians fleeing gang violence swim across the country’s longest river

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Dozens of radical swam and waded crossed Haiti’s longest stream connected Wednesday successful a hopeless effort to fly gangs that launched a caller onslaught connected a metropolis successful the country’s cardinal portion that has been nether siege for astir a week.

The onslaught successful agrarian areas of Petite Rivière began earlier dawn, according to Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, an activistic group.

“Gangs are invading the metropolis everywhere,” she told The Associated Press by phone. “There are radical trapped successful their homes who can’t leave, and the guys are mounting occurrence wherever they go.”

Videos posted connected societal media showed radical balancing their belongings connected their caput oregon holding them aloft arsenic they crossed the Artibonite River. A mates of boats ferried the fewer who could spend one.

Another video showed the bodies of respective people, including that of a young boy, sprawled down a schoolhouse wherever gangs were sidesplitting residents successful Petite Rivière. A pistillate screamed successful anguish successful the inheritance arsenic the antheral filming began to cry.

Horace blamed the Gran Grif pack for the ongoing attack, adding that the Viv Ansanm pack conjugation was providing reinforcements.

A policeman who asked not to beryllium identified due to the fact that helium was not authorized to talk to the media said officers connected Wednesday were warring gangs astatine the Crête-à-Pierrot fort, tract of a cardinal conflict during the Haitian Revolution.

Gunmen archetypal attacked Petite Rivière connected April 24, and they person seized afloat power of the town’s bluish region, she said.

“The constabulary are inactive fighting, but they person already taken power of a bully portion of the city,” Horace said.

Several radical person been killed, including an 11-year-old child, Horace said.

Haiti’s heartland nether attack

Gran Grif is the largest pack to run successful the cardinal Artibonite region. It was blamed for an onslaught successful the cardinal municipality of Pont-Sondé successful October 2024, wherever much than 70 radical were killed successful 1 of the biggest massacres successful Haiti’s caller history.

Gran Grif was formed aft Prophane Victor, a erstwhile subordinate of Parliament who represented Petite Rivière, began arming young men successful the region, according to a U.N. report.

The onslaught connected Petite Rivière comes weeks aft the Canaan and 400 Mawozo gangs struck different towns successful the Artibonite region, according to the U.N. governmental ngo successful Haiti.

The gangs successful precocious March seized power of astir of Mirebalais, where gunmen stormed a section prison and released much than 500 inmates. Gangs besides raided the adjacent municipality of Saut d’Eau, which attracts thousands for an yearly Vodou-Catholic pilgrimage.

The U.N. ngo said successful a study released Wednesday that portion the attacks began connected March 21, prompting residents to telephone for assistance connected societal media, the authorities did not deploy specializer constabulary units until March 31.

At slightest 15 radical were killed successful Mirebalais, including 2 Catholic nuns. Most radical were changeable wrong their homes oregon connected the thoroughfare arsenic they tried to flee, according to the report.

The U.N. ngo noted that the Canaan pack person had posted a video connected societal media connected March 20 informing of “an imminent attack” connected Mirebalais.

The ngo said gangs struck to dismantle a barricade that a self-defense group had erected to halt gunmen from entering the bosom of Mirebalais and to artifact the smuggling of weapons and drugs, presumably from the neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the land of Hispaniola with Haiti.

A way of violence

Overall, much than 1,600 radical were killed from January to March successful Haiti, including astatine slightest 35 children. Another 850 radical were injured, according to the U.N. report. Most of the killings and injuries were reported successful the capital, Port-au-Prince, with 85% of it controlled by gangs.

Gangs were liable for 35% of the deaths and injuries, portion constabulary operations and executions were liable for 56%. The remainder were blamed connected vigilante movements.

During that clip frame, astatine slightest 161 radical were kidnapped, with 63% of those cases reported successful Artibonite, according to the report.

Haiti’s National Police are warring gangs with assistance from a U.N.-backed ngo led by Kenyan constabulary that deployed past year. However, the ngo has struggled as it remains underfunded and understaffed, with astir 1,000 unit retired of the 2,500 envisioned.

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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press videographer Pierre-Richard Luxama successful Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed.

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