Port-au-Prince, October 21, 2025.- On Magik 9, journalist Bertide Horace drew an alarming picture of the security situation in Bas-Artibonite. Nearly 90 per cent of the territory is reportedly now under the control of armed gangs, including the Taliban of Mawozo and the Gran Grif group. These groups clash violently for the control of strategic zones between La Chapelle, Verrettes and Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite.
Invited this Tuesday to the show Panel Magik, journalist Bertide Horace revealed that the low plain of Artibonite is today nearly 90% under the control of armed gangs. According to her, four criminal groups clash for territorial domination, sowing terror among the population.
« The Taliban Mawozo group took control of La Chapelle, at the border of the Central Plateau, and continues its attacks on the town of Désarmes, in the municipality of Verrettes », she said. These clashes are accompanied by fires and systematic destruction on their way.
For its part, the Gran Grif gang, based in Liancourt, whose headquarters are located in Savien, in the commune of Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite, has been carrying out a deadly offensive in the area for several weeks. Last weekend, violent fighting between the Gran Grif and the Taliban intensified the instability of the department.
Ms. Horace also pointed out that many young people, formerly employed in the rice plantations in the valley, had now joined the armed groups because of a lack of economic prospects. This transformation of the local social and economic fabric is of concern to observers, who fear a lasting collapse of the country's main agricultural region.
W.A.
