Members of the Haitian population endured a night of horror between Saturday and Sunday, marked by gang attacks of unprecedented brutality in Pont-Sondé, in the Artibonite region, and in Kajak, in the commune of Kenscoff. These simultaneous assaults illustrate the expansion and radicalization of armed violence beyond the capital, raising fears of a new escalation in the conflict.
The Pont-Sondé Massacre: A Community Under Fire from “Gran Grif”
On the evening of Saturday, November 29, the “Gran Grif” gang from Savien launched a coordinated assault on the locality of Pont-Sondé, 5th communal section of Saint-Marc. Accounts from survivors and local officials paint a picture of a veritable massacre.
“Heavy automatic weapons fire shook the region from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and from 2 a.m. until dawn,” testified a local organization official, adding that “throughout the night, cries of distress came from everywhere.”
The assailants arrived via the Poterie road, spreading terror and fire. “They set fires everywhere without giving residents time to escape,” confirmed inhabitants, describing people “burned alive” inside their homes.
Several people were killed as soon as the gang arrived inside the ODVA facility, including employees of the institution, confirmed Bertide Horace in an interview with CTN. Well-known entrepreneurs from the area were also executed.
Engineer Noé Exumé, president of the organization Pont-Sondé D’abord, quoted by Le Nouvelliste, reported scenes of extreme violence in the sectors of Belanger, Poterie, and Mont-ODVA: “Several bodies were discovered there,” also revealing “shocking cases of gang rape.”
Saint-Nicolas Hospital in Saint-Marc received about fifteen wounded, mostly from gunshots. Meanwhile, thousands of people, haunted by memories of the October 3, 2024 massacre in the same area, fled to Saint-Marc.
Faced with this offensive, Saint-Marc’s chief commissioner, Nestor Ereste, defended the Haitian National Police’s (PNH) response: “The PNH did not sit idle. It reacted, except that nighttime did not work in our favor. Nevertheless, we limited the damage.” He stated that reinforcements, including three armored vehicles and specialized units, had been dispatched to Pont-Sondé Sunday morning to “neutralize the outlaws.”
Kenscoff in Flames: Nine Houses Reduced to Ashes by “Viv Ansanm”
Almost simultaneously, on the night of Sunday, November 30, the criminal coalition “Viv Ansanm” struck in the hills above Port-au-Prince. In Kajak, in the commune of Kenscoff, assailants set fire to nine houses, according to several local sources.
The attack, carried out “with extreme violence,” plunged the area into panic. Initial reports indicate that several people, trapped inside their homes, perished in the flames. The chaos continues to prevent access by emergency services and an accurate assessment, making official confirmation of the death toll impossible. The traumatized population of Kenscoff is demanding urgent intervention by authorities.
These attacks occur in a context of national suffocation. In Arcahaie, gangs maintain constant pressure, regularly attacking the locality of Bercy, despite resistance from law enforcement and civilian self-defense brigades. National Highway Number 1 remains blocked at this commune, still cutting off the vital link between the capital and the Grand North.
This new surge of violence cruelly questions the state’s capacity to contain the crisis. It comes as the PNH’s interim commander-in-chief, Vladimir Paraison, had presented a positive assessment of his first 100 days on Friday, highlighting the “recovery” of downtown Port-au-Prince. While acknowledging that “the challenges remain enormous,” this self-congratulatory statement rings hollow in the face of terror that is spreading and intensifying in the provinces, demonstrating that the current security strategy is struggling to stem a phenomenon that is becoming regionalized and radicalized.
https://ctninfo.com/?p=38471&preview=true
https://www.facebook.com/CaribbeanNewsMedia
