Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille began a crucial trip to the United Arab Emirates and Kenya on Saturday. This follows one of the deadliest gang attacks in recent years.
On Thursday, the Gran Grif gang attacked Pont-Sonde, killing at least 70 people, including infants. Over 6,000 residents were forced to flee their homes.
“As you can see, we are being attacked on several fronts,” Conille stated at a press conference before his departure.
The massacre has sent shockwaves through a nation already grappling with violence. The Haitian national police force is outgunned and severely understaffed.
“One of the aims of this trip is to go to Kenya,” Conille said. “We will discuss with President Ruto how we can speed up the deployment of Kenyan troops.”
Conille also plans to meet with officials in the UAE to explore regular financial assistance for the Haitian national police.
On Friday, he visited a hospital treating victims of the gang attack. He was flanked by heavily armed police, assuring families that reinforcements were on the way from Port-au-Prince.
A spokesperson for Haiti’s national police announced that the director in charge of the Artibonite department had been replaced, signaling a shake-up in response to the violence.
Gran Grif is the largest gang in Haiti’s Artibonite department. This region is vital for the nation’s rice production.
The gang’s leader, Luckson Elan, claimed the attack was retaliation against civilians for their perceived passivity during police operations against his members.
This week’s killings reflect the deteriorating security situation in Haiti. Armed gangs now control much of Port-au-Prince and are expanding their reach into neighboring regions.
International support has been slow to materialize, and many neighboring countries have deported migrants back to Haiti.
The number of internally displaced individuals has surged past 700,000, nearly doubling in just six months.
