A wave of savage, large-scale gang attacks has engulfed Haiti’s central Artibonite region, leaving a trail of burned homes and dead bodies, including a mother and her child. The violence has forced hundreds of terrified residents to flee into the darkness, triggering a fresh humanitarian crisis in a nation already on its knees.

This explosion of violence in Haiti's agricultural heartland—often called the nation's rice granary—presents a grave challenge to the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. While our officers are mandated to help the Haitian National Police (HNP) restore security, their deployment has been largely confined to the capital, Port-au-Prince, which itself remains overwhelmingly under gang control.

A Widening Crisis Tests Kenyan-Led Mission

The attacks, blamed on the notoriously cruel Gran Grif gang, have effectively placed 50% of the Artibonite region under criminal control, according to a desperate plea for backup from the SPNH-17 police union. “The population cannot live, cannot work, cannot move,” the union warned, calling the loss of the Artibonite and West departments “the greatest security failure in modern Haitian history.”

The strategic implications for Haiti's food security are dire. The Artibonite Valley produces approximately 80% of the rice consumed by Haitians, and gangs are now seizing control of key roadways connecting the capital to this vital region. This escalation comes as the MSS mission already faces significant hurdles, including being underfunded, understaffed, and unable to quell the rising tide of violence.

Key developments in the crisis include:

• A local official in the town of Pont-Sondé confirmed nearly a dozen deaths over the weekend.
• The attacks are a grim echo of a massacre in the same town in October 2024, where the same gang killed at least 100 people.
• Between October 2024 and June 2025, gang violence in the Artibonite and Centre departments killed at least 1,018 people.
• The outgunned Haitian police are struggling to respond, with the local union lamenting a lack of resources and government support.

Local Pleas and a Test of Strategy

In the coastal town of Saint-Marc, hundreds of survivors who fled the violence gathered to demand government action, their anger and fear palpable. Their pleas highlight the immense challenge facing both the Haitian government and its international partners. The MSS mission, authorized by the UN Security Council, was designed to support the HNP in securing critical infrastructure and fighting gangs, but its limited numbers have constrained its operational reach.

Analysts note the mission was arguably an impossible task from the start, with Kenyan officers left to confront heavily armed gangs who dominate the landscape. While the mission's mandate was recently renewed and transitioned into a larger "Gang Suppression Force," the fundamental challenges of funding and personnel from partner nations remain.

As the violence spreads beyond the capital, it tests the very premise of the international strategy. The crisis in Artibonite is no longer a distant problem but a direct threat to Haiti's stability and a somber test for Kenya's high-stakes diplomatic and security engagement. The question now is whether the mission can adapt before the nation it was sent to help is completely consumed by chaos.