Gran Grif is the largest gang in Haiti’s Artibonite department, according to security analysts. The region is home to many of Haiti’s rice fields.
The gang’s leader Luckson Elan said the attack was in retaliation for civilians remaining passive while police and vigilante groups killed his soldiers.
This week’s killings were the latest sign of a worsening conflict in Haiti, where armed gangs control most of Port-au-Prince and are expanding to nearby regions, fueling hunger and making hundreds of thousands homeless. Promised international support still lags and nearby nations have deported migrants back to the country.
The number of people internally displaced by the conflict has meanwhile surged past 700,000, nearly doubling in six months.
