Viv Ansanm Destroys Marchand-Dessalines Police Station; Anti-Gang 'Operation Viv Ansanm' Launched with 10+ Killed

Members of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition (comprising G9 and G-Pèp factions) destroyed the police station in Marchand-Dessalines, a commune in the Artibonite Department approximately 19 km north of Pont-Sondé, on May 7, 2026. The attack on the Marchand-Dessalines police station represents a direct assault on the state security apparatus in a town that had already been threatened by the Gran Grif gang's advance in March–April 2026. In response, Haitian security forces launched an anti-terrorist operation — officially dubbed 'Operation Viv Ansanm' — in which more than 10 gang members were reported killed and others wounded. The destruction of the police station follows Gran Grif's and Kokorat San Ras's earlier March–April 2026 offensive that pushed into Marchand-Dessalines, and suggests Viv Ansanm is consolidating control of strategic Artibonite nodes now that the Gran Grif-associated gangs opened the corridor. The Artibonite offensive represents a serious geographic escalation: Marchand-Dessalines sits on Route Nationale 1 approximately 109 km north of Port-au-Prince, meaning gangs are now actively contesting state authority along the entire length of Haiti's most important transportation corridor. The simultaneous destruction of police infrastructure in Artibonite while the GSF focuses exclusively on Port-au-Prince highlights the critical gap in coverage during the transition from the MSS to a fully operational 5,500-person GSF. Haitian police commissioner Jean Frantz Bélizaire confirmed security operations in response.