The government in Haiti has deployed teams of anti-gang police after gunmen carried out a mass shooting through a town near Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, killing at least 70 people and forcing over 6,000 to flee.

"This odious crime against defenseless women, men and children is not only an attack against victims but against the entire Haitian nation," Prime Minister Garry Conille said on X, adding that security forces were reinforcing the area.

What we know about the attack

On Thursday, gang members brandishing automatic rifles opened fire in the town of Pont Sonde and later set houses and vehicles on fire, according to local authorities.

"Members of the Gran Grif gang used automatic rifles to shoot at the population, killing at least 70 people, among them about 10 women and three infants," UN Human Rights Office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement Friday.

The gang reportedly set fire to at least 45 houses and 34 vehicles, forcing many residents to flee.

"The gang did not meet any resistance," Bertide Horace, a spokesperson from the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission to Save the Artibonite Valley said, adding that police officers remained in their station fearing they would be outnumbered by the gang members.

Several people were shot in the head as the attackers went door to door, Horace said. "They were left to shoot anybody, everybody was running everywhere. They were walking, shooting people, killing people, burning people, burning homes, burning cars."

Rights groups have estimated the death toll to be higher.

Haiti's PM says attack 'demands urgent, rigorous' response

Luckson Elan, leader of the "Gran Grif" gang, took responsibility for the massacre, saying the massacre was a response to civilians remaining silent when police and vigilante groups killed his gang members.

"This latest act of violence, targeting innocent civilians, is unacceptable and demands an urgent, rigorous and coordinated response from the state," Prime Minister Garry Conille said in a statement.

The Haitian police would be "stepping up its efforts," the statement said, adding "agents from the Temporary Anti-Gang Unit (UTAG) have been deployed as reinforcements to back up teams already on the ground.

The attack is an indication of a deteriorating conflict in Haiti where outbreaks of gang violence have claimed more than 3,500 lives since January alone.

mfi/kb (AFP, Reuters)