PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) 鈥� At least 30 people were dead and dozens more missing on Monday after a gang renewed its attack on a town in central , according to human rights activists.
Gran Grif Petite-Rivi猫re de l鈥橝rtibonite early Sunday, burning homes and leaving bodies strewn on the streets. The gang attacked again on Monday, said Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, an activist group.
She told The Associated Press that the gang remained in control of the Jean-Denis neighborhood and set up roadblocks.
鈥淭he area is completely deserted,鈥� she said by phone. 鈥淥nly the gangs have control.鈥�
She said her organization has collected at least 30 bodies and was investigating reports of people missing.
鈥淐ommunication is very bad over there,鈥� she noted.
Antonal Mortim茅, a human rights lawyer and co-executive director of the D茅fenseurs Plus human rights group, told Radio Cara茂bes that 70 people were believed killed, based on reports from activists on the ground.
Haiti鈥檚 National Police said officers backed by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-supported mission helped rescue people in the Jean-Denis neighborhood but were delayed because gangs had dug large holes to prevent police from entering.
Police in a statement reported at least 16 people killed and 10 others injured by gunfire.
Estimates of people killed and injured can vary wildly in the immediate aftermath of gang attacks in Haiti because of limited communication and authorities’ inability to enter the area.
Gangs control , Port-au-Prince, and have seized control of swaths of land in Haiti鈥檚 central region.
The United Nations human rights office earlier this year called gangs’ consolidation of control in the capital and neighboring areas 鈥渦nprecedented,鈥� and said more than 5,500 people were killed in Haiti from March 1, 2025, to Jan. 15.
Gran Grif, the largest gang operating in the Artibonite region, attacked Petite-Rivi猫re de l鈥橝rtibonite nearly a year ago, forcing dozens of people to swim and wade to escape.
Gran Grif also was blamed in October 2024, where more than 70 people were killed in one of the biggest massacres in Haiti鈥檚 recent history.
Gran Grif was formed after , a former member of Parliament who represented Petite Rivi猫re, began arming young men in the region, according to a U.N. report.
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