PORT AU PRINCE — Despite a vow by Prime Minister Garry Conille to crack down on gangs, at least 20 people, including children, were reported killed Thursday as armed gangsters attacked a small town in the country.

Initial reports indicate that more than 50 other people were wounded as Gran Grif gang members rampaged through Pont-Sondé in the central Artibonite region north-west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Video footage shows groups of people fleeing the violence on motorbikes and on foot.

The spokeswoman for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, Bertide Harace, speaking on a radio station, said the Gran Grif gang burned homes and cars in the town of Pont-Sondé.

“A lot of people ran and left the area,” she told radio listeners.

Government prosecutor Venson François, based in Saint-Marc, called the attack a “massacre” in an interview with Radio Caraïbes.

Despite the presence of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, the criminal gangs, which have taken control of a vast majority of the capital, continue to instil fear in the country that has been without an elected government and head of state since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated on July 7, 2021 at his private residence.

The authorities have not said how many people were killed during Thursday’s massacre, with local media reporting that more than 50 and a Haitian human rights group putting the figure at 20 or more.

Media reports describe Gran Grif as one of the most violent of Haiti’s gangs.

In January last year, members were accused of attacking a police station near Port-Sondé and killing six officers. It is also blamed for forcing the closure of a hospital serving more than 700,000 people.

The gang has about 100 members and has been accused of crimes including murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings.

According to a United Nations report, Prophane Victor, a former legislator, who represented the Artibonite department, began arming young men who eventually formed the Gran Grif gang to secure his election and control over the area.

Last month, the United States imposed sanctions on Victor. (Jamaicaobserver)…[+]