Haiti - FLASH : At least 24 armed attacks in Artibonite in 9 months (investigation report)
An investigative report by the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH), published on October 9, 2025, reveals that at least 24 attacks and/or massacres were perpetrated between January and September 2025 by gangs ("Kokorat San Ras" "Gran Grif" and "Taliban/Mawozo") in the Artibonite department. These bloody attacks were recorded in 25 localities and cities, located in eight municipalities across the department. With eight armed attacks, the commune of Petite-Rivière in the Artibonite region is the one most targeted by bandits.
The Artibonite department, once considered the country's agricultural breadbasket, today represents one of the most worrying hotbeds of violence. Indeed, eight of the 17 municipalities, namely Gros-Morne, La Chapelle, L'Estère, Liancourt, Marchand-Dessalines, Montrouis, Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, and Verrettes, are experiencing daily armed clashes, extrajudicial executions, massacres, rapes, gang rapes, arson, looting of private property, destruction of state property, kidnappings followed by sequestration, ransoming of the population, and mass and forced displacement of citizens.
Hundreds of homes were looted and/or burned; nearly a hundred people were murdered (partial toll); numerous vehicles, including four armored vehicles and two cars, one of which belonged to the Haitian National Police, were burned. In addition, several motorcycles belonging either to the police or to private individuals, as well as other vehicles, were stolen. At least six state institutions were vandalized and/or burned. These included three police stations, one sub-police station, and two magistrates' courts.
