During the night of Wednesday, March 11 to Thursday, March 12, 2026, heavily armed individuals targeted the residence of Jean Marvel Dandin, General Director of Radio Télé Kiskeya and host of the program “Di m ma di w.” While the journalist is fortunately safe and sound, this new incursion once again illustrates the ongoing deterioration of the security climate in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.
According to initial accounts, the attackers fired numerous volleys in an attempt to force entry into the property. They tried, in vain, to break into the house before eventually retreating, the individual concerned confided. This episode highlights the growing vulnerability of civil society actors, particularly media professionals, in the face of rampant insecurity.
This attack occurs in a context of extreme tension in the Haitian capital. In recent days, violent clashes have been reported on several fronts. In the north of the capital, rival gangs are fighting for control of strategic territories. Simultaneously, the downtown area of Port-au-Prince is the scene of regular exchanges of gunfire between criminal groups and law enforcement.
This Thursday, March 12, around midday, fighting broke out in the city center, specifically on Chareron and Joseph Janvier streets. It pitted criminals from the “Viv Ansanm” coalition against the Haitian National Police (PNH), supported by the Task Force and its kamikaze drones. These operations aim to try to retake territories of the capital that have fallen into the hands of the coalition. Furthermore, “Viv Ansanm” continues its atrocities in the commune of Kenscoff, where a new attack was reported on Wednesday evening.
March 12, 2026: A Sad Anniversary, that of the Village-de-Dieu Massacre
This Thursday, March 12, also marks the 5th anniversary of the Village de Dieu tragedy. March 12, 2021, will remain a fateful date in the annals of the PNH: an operation against gangs in that neighborhood turned into a bloody fiasco, costing the lives of five police officers.
Five years later, the memory of this massacre remains vivid, but the security situation, far from improving, has deteriorated significantly. The grip of the gangs has consolidated and expanded. They now control entire portions of Port-au-Prince – notably the northern and southern entrances – as well as strategic zones in Artibonite and the Central Plateau. State authority there is almost non-existent, and millions of citizens now live displaced, crammed into camps with precarious conditions.
As authorities and the population eagerly await the deployment of the multinational force to crack down on gangs, whose first elements are announced starting next April 1st, the Village-de-Dieu neighborhood has become, on this 5th anniversary, the tragic symbol of the Haitian State’s persistent inability to impose its authority.
