SUMMARY

The Gran Grif gang launched a deadly attack against civilians in Pont Sondé, in the Artibonite department of Haiti, on 3 October 2024, that resulted in over 100 deaths. The gang’s leader claimed the assault was in retaliation for the residents’ support of local self-defense groups, triggering a cycle of reprisals between Gran Grif and these locally organized armed groups.

On 9 and 10 December 2024, amid escalating back-and-forth attacks between self-defense groups and Gran Grif, the Chandelle self-defense group carried out an assault using firearms and machetes against residents of Bois Laville and Passe Barque in the Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite. The attack, justified by the group as a response to the victims' alleged collaboration with Gran Grif, left 39 people dead.

The Chandelle self-defense group first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2024, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in December that year when the group massacred 39 residents of the Artibonite department.