Artibonite, July 23, 2025.- Three officers of the Departmental Maintenance Unit (UDMO) were killed on Tuesday during an ambush in Liancourt, Artibonite. Another officer was reported missing, a fifth managed to escape, and a police informant was also killed. The attackers dropped their armoured vehicle into a pit before burning.
In the Artibonite department, the police continue to record defeats. In a viral video on social media, Liancourt bandits expose police forces, show their weapons and challenge the Police Institution by humiliating their corpses.
The PNH once again condemned this barbaric act, expressed its condolences and promised to strengthen its operations against gangs in Artibonite, with a firm response, according to a note from the PNH's Press Coordination and Public Relations (CPRP/PNH).
Artibonite, a long-standing challenge
Between 2015 and 2017, new gangs like Gran Grif and Kokorat San Ras emerged in Haiti, supported by candidates in the 2015 parliamentary elections. The withdrawal of MINUSTAH troops from the Gonaïves in 2017 and the weakness of the police forces facilitated their expansion, particularly in rural areas of Bas-Artibonite.
In the face of this rise in violence, rural populations have created self-defence groups to protect themselves, notably Jean Denis against the Gran Grif gang. Insecurity increased until 2020, before experiencing a lull in early 2021, after the death of Gran Grif's leader, Odma Louissaint.
Despite the arrival of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in 2024, the situation has not improved. Gangs have grown stronger in the department. Last March, in Savien, during a rescue operation, a gang ambush claimed the lives of a Kenyan policeman, bringing the number of Kenyan deaths in Haiti to two since June 2024. Three armoured vehicles were also burned in the attack on the multinational force led by Kenya and the PNH.
Even yesterday, in Liancourt, the criminals struck, but proportional responses are still waiting. In addition, in the municipalities of Marchand-Dessalines and Liancourt (Artibonite), 14,885 persons, or 3,425 households, were displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). About 80% of them found refuge in other locations in Marchand-Dessalines, notably in the 4th communal section of Poste Pierrot.
Finally, PNH deputy spokesman Lionel Lazarre confirmed that the situation in Liancourt is now under police control. HNP Commander-in-Chief Rameau Normil ordered the intensification of gang operations in the area until their complete elimination.
W.E.
