The Gran Grif gang has killed scores of people in an attack on Pont Sondé in Haiti, official reports say

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Armed bandits from the Savien gang killed more than fifty people and injured dozens during an attack in the town of Pont Sondé, located in the municipality of Saint-Marc in the Artibonite region, according to early estimates by a government official department of Haiti, on Thursday, October 3.

Many residents who sent SOS calls to the police asking for help against the gang’s attack have fled their homes during this murderous invasion by the Gran Grif gang. The exact number of victims of Thursday’s attack is not yet known.

Some injured people were rushed to Sint-Niklaas Hospital. This new attack has caused panic in the Pont Sondé region and among residents of neighboring areas, such as Saint-Marc.

Local press reports that the Savien gang, specifically Gran Grif, has taken full control of Pont-Sondé as of this morning. Hundreds of families fleeing the violence of the “Gran Grif” gang in Pont-Sondé are currently in the public square Philippe Guerrier in Saint-Marc.

The gangs continue to impose their reign of terror, while the authorities of the Presidential Transition Council and the government led by Garry Conille continue to promise the population a return to peace in the country. Meanwhile, the Savien bandits continue to kill and create an unprecedented climate of violence in the Artibonite Valley.

This year, gangs operating in the Artibonite department have launched several attacks on residents of several municipalities in the region. Among them, the Kokorat San Ras gang spread terror in August in the communities of Rivière Blanche and Canifice in Gros-Morne, about thirty kilometers north of Gonaïves. During these attacks, at least ten people were killed, six were kidnapped and several houses and farms were set on fire.

Ultimately, the gang groups demanded $298 per household so residents could return or reclaim their homes.

These criminal groups make normal life impossible for residents and disrupt their daily activities and livelihoods. In response to this gang violence, residents felt compelled to take to the streets again to protest and call on the authorities to fight the gangs.

They criticize the national police for doing nothing to eradicate banditry in the region. They explain that they can no longer carry out their daily activities due to the presence of Kokorat San Ras, which blocks roads and even confiscates farmers’ passages to their fields.

This situation creates major food insecurity for those in the department.

The Gran Grif gang has resumed its attacks, even though their leader, Luckson Elan, has just been sanctioned by the United States for his criminal activities. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) confirms that Elan’s actions constitute serious human rights violations related to gang activity in Haiti’s Artibonite Department.

The United States is relying on the UN expert group’s report to sanction Elan and former Haitian lawmaker Prophane Victor, saying “the level of violence and the level of brutality that gangs are willing to achieve to violate human rights are unprecedented.” They orchestrate regular and indiscriminate attacks on the population and hinder humanitarian aid.

On September 27, the UN Security Council Committee established by Resolution 2653 added Victor and Elan to the list of persons sanctioned by the UN in Haiti. Their names have been sent to INTERPOL in special communications alerting the global law enforcement community to individuals and entities subject to sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.

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