December 5, 2025
In the early hours of Thursday, July 17, 2025, the police station in Marchand Dessalines, located in the Artibonite department, was violently attacked by heavily armed individuals identified as members of the “Kokorat san ras” gang. The assailants set fire to the building and several vehicles, sparking panic among local residents. Reliable sources report multiple fatalities, injuries, and abductions.
This assault adds to a wave of violent incidents that highlight the growing power of armed groups across the country—particularly in Artibonite, where gangs like “Gran Grif” and “Kokorat san ras” are staging regular raids in towns such as Liancourt, L’Estère, Petite-Rivière, and Pont-Sondé. In April, the Liancourt police station suffered a similar fate, when more than 50 people were massacred in a single day.
In the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, violence has also intensified. In Kenscoff, civilians continue to be killed by the dozens in deadly attacks carried out by gangs seeking territorial expansion. A newly deployed police vehicle was recently torched there, symbolizing the growing weakness of law enforcement—even with the support of specialized units and foreign forces. As a result, local populations are fleeing en masse.
Meanwhile, a brutal turf war has erupted between the Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo gangs in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets. The conflict, centered on control of strategic areas like Santo, has plunged several neighborhoods into open warfare, marked by executions, looting, and arson.
As gangs advance unopposed, state infrastructure continues to collapse, exacerbating Haiti’s institutional breakdown. The government’s silence following the attack in Marchand Dessalines—along with its failure to respond to other recent atrocities—fuels a dangerous sense of impunity. More and more regions are sliding into chaos, while the population is left to face the violence alone, gripped by fear, anger, and abandonment.
