December 5, 2025
Montrouis is sinking deeper each day into a spiral of terror imposed by the “Talibans,” an armed group originating from Canaan that is now extending its control over this area of the Lower Artibonite. The latest crime—of unbearable brutality—claimed the life of Reverend Pastor Reynold Dort, a respected local figure whose murder has devastated an already exhausted community.
According to municipal authorities, the attack occurred in the late afternoon of November 22, 2025, when members of the gang, angered by the lack of response when knocking at the gate of the pastoral residence, climbed over the wall of a building used as an orphanage.
There, they forcibly abducted the pastor and executed him in front of his wife, children, and the children living in the facility—an intentional spectacle of terror aimed at leaving a lasting psychological scar. The victim’s body was then set on fire, an act residents describe as indescribable in its cruelty and a profound violation of the remaining social norms in this distressed region.
Interim mayor Blaise Elysée, who himself was forced to flee the commune due to gang pressure, denounced the now-routine barbarity and called for a firm police intervention to “liberate Montrouis from criminal control.” For more than six weeks, the locality has been under the grip of armed men.
Families are fleeing by the hundreds, essential services are paralyzed, and schools have stopped functioning. Montrouis—once a tourist corridor and quiet residential area—is now a territory where the rule of law, the State, and public safety have disappeared.
