Dozens of people have been killed and thousands forced to flee their homes after armed gangs ravaged Haiti’s major agricultural region soon before the expected arrival of an international force aimed at combating attacks like these.
Gang members stormed the Jean-Denis and Pont-Sondé areas of Haiti’s western Artibonite department on Sunday into Monday, according to rights groups, shooting civilians and burning homes.
Haitian law enforcement have confirmed that at least 16 people were killed on Sunday, with rights groups Defenders Plus and RNDDH estimating that the death toll rose as high as 70 by Monday as the attack continued overnight.
Dozens of houses were burned down and nearly 6,000 people were forced to flee, according to Defenders Plus.
Gang members split into groups, launching attacks across multiple localities, barricading roads and digging trenches across routes that serve as entry and exit points, Bertide Horace, a spokesperson from the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission to Save the Artibonite Valley, told CNN.
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