At least 70 People Dead in Gang Attack in Haiti

At least 70 people — including 10 women and three infants — were killed in a gang attack in central Haiti on Thursday that sent hundreds of people running for their lives, posing another challenge for the international security force that has been deployed in Haiti since June, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.The attack took place at about 3 a.m.in Pont-Sondé, roughly 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the capital.

The town is in the Artibonite department, a key agricultural region that has seen a surge in gang violence, the Health Ministry said.Gang members reportedly set fire to at least 45 houses and 34 vehicles, forcing a number of residents to flee, a U.N.statement said, calling for more international security assistance to Haiti.Gangs that the international security force has been sent to confront are mostly concentrated in Port-au-Prince, but the Artibonite region has also seen a rise in violence.

At least 50 more people were injured, according to the Haitian Health Ministry.“This attack comes amid an upsurge in violence in the region, exacerbating an already extremely precarious security situation,” the health ministry said in a statement.

“This violence disrupts the daily lives of residents, limiting their access to basic services, particularly health care.Persistent insecurity also prevents humanitarian interventions in certain localities, making the situation increasingly critical.”While the ministry was attempting to use United Nations resources to respond by air, “direct intervention capacities are severely limited, due to the almost impossible access to the affected area,” the ministry said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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