ILRES Theophile, a farmer living north of Haiti’s capital, said he woke up in the middle of the night on March 29 to the unmistakable sound of heavy gunfire.
Gran Grif, a feared gang in the area, had warned for days that it had planned to attack a nearby community.
Theophile fled, returning after sunrise to find carnage in the streets.
His three brothers and his son were among the dead.
Homes, including his, were in flames.
Gran Grif’s coordinated assault on at least eight towns in the agricultural Artibonite region left as many as 70 people dead.
“My son died with his eyes open,” said Theophile, 55.
“We didn’t expect such horror.”
The massacre took place a few days before the arrival of the first wave of a United Nations-backed, multinational force created to quell the spiralling gang violence that has gripped Haiti for years.
While the new Gang Suppression Force is expected to take a more aggressive approach than previous efforts, the slaughter in Artibonite underscored the challenges facing both the new force and Haitian police in confronting the heavily- armed groups.
The understaffed and ill-equipped police were delayed in responding to the violence because the gang had set up roadblocks, according to both police and human rights activists.
When police left the scene after a few hours, the gang returned and set homes ablaze.
“These are terrorists; it’s not something for a police operation,” said Pierre Esperance, executive director of the National Human Rights Defence Network, a leading human rights group.
Estimates of the death toll range from 42 to 70.
Regardless of the exact tally, the UN-backed force is not expected to field a full, 5,500-member contingent until the fall, leaving Haitians trapped in the crossfire of a war for power, money and territory.
Nearly 6,000 people died in gang violence in 2025, and about 1.4 million people, more than one-tenth of the country’s population, have been uprooted from their homes, according to UN figures.
In 2024, foreign police officers, mostly Kenyan, arrived to back the fledgling Haitian National Police, but they have failed to stop the rampant killings.
The new Gang Suppression Force, approved by the UN Security Council in September, will be more militarised and act more independently.
Last year, the Haitian government hired military contractors led by Erik Prince, a supporter of US President Donald Trump best known for previously owning private military company Blackwater.
A task force he advises has carried out drone strikes in the metropolitan areas of the capital of Port-au-Prince, but has yet to capture or kill any high-profile gang leader.
Private contractors and international forces have focused mostly on the capital, leaving gangs unchecked in rural areas north of the city, experts say.
But in recent months, the gangs seemed to retreat as police secured some roads. More anti-gang operations north of Port-au-Prince are expected in the coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The person said police appeared to be improving, and that the arrival of the new multinational force – with soldiers and police officers from Latin America, Africa and Asia – should strengthen the authorities’ hold on areas that have already been cleared and help expand operations.
“The gangs in general were in a bit of a retreat, until this happened,” said Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the special representative for the UN secretary-general in Haiti. “Even though there have been some gains in security forces, still, there are challenges in terms of sustaining those gains.”
But the Artibonite killings may signal that gangs are exploiting a transition period, with the Kenyan police leaving in stages, well before the arrival of the full UN-backed contingent.
“There’s a transition period now that’s also quite dangerous,” said Bill O’Neill, the UN’s human rights expert in Haiti. He predicted that gangs would test the new force to gauge its power, especially before it reaches full strength.
Human rights activists and experts said the massacre was particularly troubling because of reports that it involved so-called self-defence groups, armed vigilantes.
The groups, ostensibly formed to fight the gangs, are in some cases little more than gangs themselves.
One person involved in the Artibonite assault had reportedly defected from a self-defence group and joined the gang, experts said.
“The people of the Artibonite region are held hostage between the armed self- defence brigades and armed gangs,” said Bertide Horace, a community leader.
“The self-defence brigades are also terrorising the population. The state’s absence in the Artibonite Valley leaves the population to fend for itself.”
The March 29 violence began about 2am, when Gran Grif, based in the Savien area, attacked the town of Pon Benwa, before moving on to other towns, according to a preliminary report by the National Human Rights Defence Network.
A self-defence group tried to fight back but was outgunned and forced to retreat, the report said.
Gang members forced residents out of their beds, gathered them in courtyards and the streets, and shot dozens of them, said a senior diplomat who was familiar with the events but not authorised to speak publicly.
An unknown number of people went missing and were presumed abducted.
“Many terrorists from the Savien group were firing in all directions,” Kendy Jean, 41, a teacher who now works as a farmer, said in an interview.
“And they fired for hours.”
He said the region felt ignored because police had concentrated their efforts on the capital.
“The state has completely abdicated its responsibilities,” he added. “We are alone.” — ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times
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