Haiti Gang Retaliation Kills at Least 11 in Artibonite

At least 11 people were killed in Haiti’s central Artibonite region on Monday after gang members launched a retaliatory attack following a deadly security operation, according to a local official.

The violence marks the latest escalation in Haiti’s worsening security crisis, which has increasingly spread beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince, into rural areas such as Artibonite, one of the country’s main agricultural regions.

Mayor Hubert Ceneac told Radio Kiskeya that a Sri Lankan unit serving with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force carried out an operation earlier Monday against armed gang members who had established illegal toll checkpoints in the area.

The multinational security force said three gang members were killed during the operation. However, Ceneac said the unit remained in the area for only a few hours before returning to its base in Gonaives.

Gang members subsequently launched a reprisal against local residents, killing people and setting homes on fire, according to the mayor. Ceneac estimated that between 11 and 12 people were killed in the retaliatory violence.

Rosy Ducena, head of the National Human Rights Defense Network, said authorities and rights groups had not yet established the full death toll or extent of the property damage.

Ducena said her organization had already received information indicating that several members of one family were among those killed.

Ceneac identified the area as a stronghold of the Kokorat San Ras gang. Armed groups have expanded their influence across Haiti in recent years, worsening insecurity in communities outside Port-au-Prince and increasing pressure on local and international security forces.

The latest killings come as the future of the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force remains uncertain. The multinational mission’s mandate is scheduled to expire this week unless the United Nations Security Council approves an extension.

The Security Council is expected to vote on the mission’s mandate on Tuesday morning, with the decision coming amid continued gang violence and growing concerns about security conditions across Haiti.