Category: Wires

SAINT-MARC, Haiti — Heavily armed gangs attacked Haiti’s central region over the weekend, killing men, women, and children as they set fire to homes and forced survivors to flee into the darkness.

Police made emergency calls for backup, asserting that 50% of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control after the large-scale attacks targeting towns including Bercy and Pont-Sondé.

“The population cannot live, cannot work, cannot move,” one of Haiti’s police unions, SPNH-17, said Sunday on X. “Losing the country’s 2 largest departments — West and Artibonite — is the greatest security failure in modern Haitian history.”

The bulk of Haiti’s police force and the Kenyan officers leading a U.N.-backed mission to help repel gangs are in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which itself is largely held by gangs.

Guerby Simeus, a Pont-Sondé official, told the Associated Press by phone on Monday that he had confirmed nearly a dozen deaths, including a mother and her child and a local government employee.

“The gangs are still in Pont-Sondé,” he said, noting that no additional police had arrived.

A run for the coast

Many survivors fled to the coastal town of Saint-Marc, where hundreds of angry people on Monday demanded that the government take action against gangs who have repeatedly attacked Haiti’s central region.

“Give me the guns! I’m going to fight the gangs!” said Réné Charles, who survived the attack. “We’ve got to stand up and fight!”

The crowd tried to break into the mayor’s office, with one unidentified man telling the AP that they weren’t going to rely on the government any longer: “We’re going to take justice into our own hands!”

Charlesma Jean Marcos, a political activist, said the gang announced last week that they were going to invade the area, and that they alerted authorities to no avail.

“For now, the only people really fighting (the gang) is the self-defense group,” he said. “A country cannot run like this.”

Marcos urged all the survivors sleeping on the street and in public parks to instead sleep inside police stations and government offices until the government can take back Artibonite.

“A lot of people are going to be hungry,” he warned. “We can support you today, we can support you tomorrow, but we won’t be able to support you forever.”

More than half of Haiti’s population is already experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse, with gangs blocking main roads and the ongoing violence displacing a record 1.4 million people.

A region overrun with gangs

The attacks in central Haiti began late Friday and late Saturday, with gang members broadcasting them live on social media.

The attacks were blamed on the Gran Grif gang, which operates in the area and was responsible for an attack on Pont-Sondé in October 2024 that killed at least 100 people, one of the biggest massacres in Haiti’s recent history.

“I heard heavy shooting, so much shooting,” one unidentified man recalled to the Associated Press and criticized the lack of police, saying he was stuck inside his house all weekend until Monday morning. “Why don’t they send any drones to Artibonite? They just use the drones in Port-au-Prince. I feel this gang is special. They don’t want to destroy this gang.”

A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Gran Grif is considered one of Haiti’s cruelest gangs. Its leader, Luckson Elan, recently was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council and the U.S. government. Also sanctioned was Prophane Victor, a former legislator whom the U.N. accused of arming young men in the Artibonite region.

The U.N. has said killings have risen dramatically in Haiti’s Artibonite and Centre departments this year, with 1,303 victims reported from January to August, compared with 419 during the same period in 2024.

“These assaults underscore the capacity of gangs to consolidate control across a corridor from the Centre to the Artibonite amid limited law enforcement presence and logistical constraints,” a recent U.N. report stated.

Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti’s transitional presidential council who was sanctioned by the U.S. last month and is seeking to oust the current prime minister, condemned the latest attacks.

“Blood continues to flow, lives and property continues to be lost in front of a government incapable of addressing the population’s problems for more than a year,” he wrote on X, adding: “Stability???!”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia National Guard member who was shot last week in a brazen daytime attack in Washington, D.C., remains in serious condition but showed positive signs by giving a thumbs-up that he could hear a nurse’s question and wiggling his toes, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Monday.

Morrisey said the family of 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe has asked the public to pray for him. Another member of the West Virginia National Guard, U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died after the shooting.

“Andrew is still fighting for his life,” Morrisey said. “Andrew needs prayers.”

Morrisey said he could not yet share details of any funeral arrangements for Beckstrom and wants to respect her family’s wishes.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House while deployed as part of President Donald Trump’s crime-fighting plan that federalized D.C. police.

Investigators are working to determine a motive. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault in the shooting.

Authorities said Lakanwal, who was shot in the confrontation, remained hospitalized and a court appearance has not yet been scheduled.

The shooting prompted the Trump administration to halt all asylum decisions and pause issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports.

After the shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump asked him to send 500 more National Guard members to Washington. Morrisey said he has not been asked to deploy additional troops from West Virginia.

Overall, nearly 2,200 troops currently are assigned to the joint task force operating in the city, according to the government’s latest update. More than 300 West Virginia National Guard members were deployed in August. In mid-November, up to 170 of them volunteered to extend their deployment until the end of the year while the others returned to West Virginia.

“Our sole focus right now is looking after the well-being of the 170 service members who are on the ground, focusing on the family, assuring that prayers are going out,” Morrisey said.

WASHINGTON — The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral ordered a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and insists that a September attack that has come under bipartisan scrutiny was lawful.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered a justification for the Sept. 2 strike after lawmakers from both parties on Sunday announced support for congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed survivors on the boat in that incident.

Leavitt in her comments to reporters on Monday did not dispute a Washington Post report that there were survivors after the initial strike in the incident. Her explanation came after President Donald Trump a day earlier said that he “wouldn’t have wanted that — not a second strike” when asked about the incident.

“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” said Leavitt, referring to U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley, who at the time was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command. “Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”

The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical. Still, they said the reports of attacking survivors of an initial missile strike posed serious legal concerns and merited further scrutiny.

“This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.).

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no longer able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.

“Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner said.

Trump on Sunday vigorously defended Hegseth.

“Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said. He added, “And I believe him.”

Leavitt said Hegseth has spoken with members of Congress who may have expressed some concerns about the reports over the weekend.

After the Post’s report, Hegseth said Friday on X that “fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”

“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.

Leavitt also confirmed that Trump later on Monday would be holding a meeting with his national security team to discuss the ongoing operations in the Caribbean Sea and potential next steps against Venezuela.

The U.S. administration says the strikes in the Caribbean are aimed at drug cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump also is weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.

Trump on Sunday confirmed that he had recently spoken by phone with Maduro but declined to detail the conversation.

The September strike was one in a series carried out by the U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as Trump has ordered the buildup a fleet of warships near Venezuela, including the largest U.S. aircraft carrier.

More than 80 people have been killed the strikes on small boats that the Trump administration alleges smuggle narcotics for drug cartels.

Diplomats face an uphill battle to reconcile Russian and Ukrainian “red lines” as a renewed U.S.-led push to end the war gathers steam, with Ukrainian officials attending talks in the U.S. over the weekend and Washington officials expected in Moscow early this week.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan became public last month, sparking alarm that it was too favorable to Moscow. It was revised following talks in Geneva between the U.S. and Ukraine a week ago.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the revised plan could be “workable.” Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a possible “basis” for a future peace agreement. Trump said Sunday, “There’s a good chance we can make a deal.”

Still, officials on both sides indicated a long road ahead as key sticking points — over whether Kyiv should cede land to Moscow and how to ensure Ukraine’s future security — appear unresolved.

Here is where things stand and what to expect this week:

U.S. holds talks with Kyiv then Moscow

Trump representatives met the Ukrainian officials over the weekend and plan to meet with the Russians in coming days.

Ukraine’s national security council head Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces Andrii Hnatov, presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz, and others met with U.S. officials for about four hours on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the session was productive but more work remains. Umerov praised the U.S. for its support but offered no details.

Zelensky’s former chief of staff and former lead negotiator for Ukraine, Andrii Yermak, resigned Friday amid a corruption scandal and is no longer part of the negotiating team. It was only a week ago that Rubio met with Yermak in Geneva, resulting in a revised peace plan.

Trump said last week that he would send his envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that Putin will meet Witkoff today.

Trump suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelensky, but not until there has been more progress.

Witkoff’s role in the peace efforts came under scrutiny last week following a report that he coached Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, on how Russia’s leader should pitch Trump on the Ukraine peace plan. Both Moscow and Washington downplayed the significance of the revelations.

Where the two sides stand

Eager to please Trump, Kyiv and Moscow have ostensibly welcomed the peace plan and the push to end the war. But Russia has continued attacking Ukraine and reiterated its maximalist demands, indicating a deal is still a ways off.

Putin implied last week that he will fight as a long as it takes to achieve his goals, saying that he will stop only when Ukrainian troops withdraw from all four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022 and still doesn’t fully control. “If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this by force. That’s all,” he said.

The plan, Putin said, “could form the basis for future agreements,” but it is in no way final and requires “a serious discussion.”

Zelensky has refrained from talking about individual points, opting instead to thank Trump profusely for his efforts and emphasizing the need for Europe — whose interests are more closely aligned with Ukraine’s — to be involved. He also has stressed the importance of robust security guarantees for Ukraine.

The first version of the plan granted some core Russian demands that Ukraine considers nonstarters, such as ceding land to Moscow that it doesn’t yet occupy and renouncing its bid to become a member of NATO.

Zelensky has said repeatedly that giving up territory is not an option. One of the Ukrainian negotiators, Bevz, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Ukraine’s president wanted to discuss the territory issue with Trump directly. Yermak then told the Atlantic in an interview on Thursday that Zelensky would not sign over the land.

Zelensky also maintains that NATO membership is the cheapest way to guarantee Ukraine’s security, and NATO’s 32 member countries said last year that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. Since he took office, Trump has made it clear that NATO membership is off the table.

Moscow, in turn, has bristled at any suggestion of a Western peacekeeping force on the ground in Ukraine, and stressed that keeping Ukraine out of NATO and NATO out of Ukraine was one of the core goals of the war.

Putin seems to have time on his side

Zelensky, meanwhile, has been under pressure at home.

Yermak’s resignation was a major blow for Zelensky, although neither the president nor Yermak have been accused of wrongdoing by investigators.

“Russia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes. There won’t be mistakes on our side,” Zelensky said. ”Our work continues, our struggle continues. We don’t have a right not to push it to the end.”

An activist with Ukraine’s nongovernmental Anti-Corruption Center, Valeriia Radchenko, said letting go of Yermak was the right decision and would open a “window of opportunity for reform.”

Putin, meanwhile, seeks to project confidence, boasting of Russia’s advances on the battlefield.

The Russian leader “feels more confident than ever about the battlefield situation and is convinced that he can wait until Kyiv finally accepts that it cannot win and must negotiate on Russia’s well-known terms,” Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center wrote on X. “If the Americans can help move things in that direction — fine. If not, he knows how to proceed anyway. That is the current Kremlin logic.”

Europe’s conundrum

NATO and the EU are holding several meetings this week focused on Ukraine.

Zelensky is holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday. In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is hosting Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and EU defense and foreign ministers are gathering to discuss European military support for Ukraine and Europe’s defense readiness.

On Wednesday, NATO foreign ministers will gather again in Brussels.

The main issue for the EU right now is what to do with the frozen Russian assets in Belgium that the Trump peace plan in its initial version sought to use for postwar investment in Ukraine.

Those funds are central to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s strategy to ensure continued help for Ukraine while also maintaining pressure on Russia. But Belgium’s prime minister is holding out, worried about the legal implications of tapping the frozen assets for Ukraine, the impact that could have on the euro — and of Russian retaliation.

The diplomacy set in motion by Trump’s peace plan “painfully exposed” Europe’s weakness, Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies wrote in a recent commentary.

“Despite being the main source of Ukraine’s economic and military support, it is marginal to the diplomacy of the war and has done little more than offer amendments to America’s draft peace plan,” Gould-Davies wrote.