A deadly battle between a notorious gang and local vigilante forces transformed a central Haitian community into a scene of devastation Sunday morning, according to regional authorities who spoke with The Associated Press.
The Gran Grif gang launched a violent assault in the Jean-Denis neighborhood of Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite, leaving multiple victims dead in the streets and torching residential buildings, according to video evidence of the attack.
Officials have not yet released an exact death toll from the assault. This latest tragedy adds to Haiti’s mounting crisis of gang violence that has plagued the Caribbean nation for five years since President Jovenel Moïse was killed in 2021.
Citizen vigilante organizations started forming around 2023 as communities fought back against criminal groups that have devastated daily life across Haiti. These self-appointed security forces have added another layer of complexity to the country’s violence, even as international peacekeeping efforts attempt to restore order.
These vigilante organizations frequently barricade communities and carry out extreme punishments against suspected gang members, including dismemberment, beheadings, and burning victims alive.
The Gran Grif organization has maintained its reign of terror throughout the Artibonite region, where Sunday’s attack occurred. Last year, the Trump administration officially classified Gran Grif among several Haitian criminal organizations as foreign terrorist groups.
United Nations officials identify Gran Grif as the region’s most dominant criminal organization, linking it to 80% of civilian fatalities in the area. The group has committed mass killings, sexual assaults including attacks on children, displaced thousands of residents, and carried out brutal dismemberments, according to UN reports.
