Event: Haiti

At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once peaceful community near Haiti’s capital at the weekend, the UN has said.A gang leader has threatened to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community of Kenscoff, nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince.Sunday’s attack pierced the belief that security in the Caribbean country was improving. Romain Le Cour, the head of Haiti observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said: “This is a major political and security test – for the government, for the police and for the international mission alike.”In a video posted on social media, the gang leader warned the director of Haiti’s national police, Vladimir Paraison, not to use drones to repel gangs in the area. “Paraison, if any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them,” he said, referring to the hostages.He identified himself as Izo 2, a reference to Izo, or Johnson André, one of Haiti’s most powerful gang members. Le Cour said Izo 2 was also known as Didi and led the armed group in Kenscoff on behalf of and in coordination with Izo and other gang leaders. “He’s running a kind of franchise cell for other gangs,” he said.Le Cour said the aim of the attack could be to force Haiti’s police and the UN-backed gang suppression force to disperse even more of their limited resources. “They don’t have enough personnel,” he said. “If you force them to deploy more troops, it would inevitably be at the expense of other areas.”The attack may also be a show of force and a message to Haiti’s government and police as the country prepares to hold general elections on 13 December, the first in more…

At least 47 people were killed and 22 more injured in an overnight gang raid on a neighbourhood overlooking Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, the UN said on Monday, prompting anger over the lack of protection from repeated deadly attacks.The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti ‌said estimates could still change.The hillside community of Kenscoff, in a strategic position overlooking routes into the capital, has suffered a dozen attacks by armed gangs since last year, forcing thousands to flee their homes.Powerful gangs under a broad alliance have for years cemented their influence over Haiti’s capital and expanded to nearby regions, despite attempts by foreign nations to reinforce the country’s outgunned police.Haitian rights group RNDDH estimated 30 to 40 people were killed and 15 to 20 wounded in the raid, which began around 10.30pm local time, but said it ⁠was difficult to assess a complete tally.Even as Haiti’s government decried a “heinous attack” and promised to reinforce security, residents demanded the local police chief step down, ‌saying officers failed to protect people killed just minutes from the police station.

People gather next to the bodies of people they said were their relatives and were killed in a gang attack in the Kenscoff neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on August 24 2026. | Photo Credit: AP Gang members attacked displaced people huddling inside a church near Haiti’s capital, killing around 40, some of them execution-style, the mayor told AFP on Monday (August 24, 2026).“We have counted around 40 bodies. Searches are continuing. Some people are still missing,” after the attack Sunday night (August 23, 2026) in the town of Kenscoff in the hills above the capital, its mayor Massillon Jean said.He described “a night of terror” in a town plagued for months by gang violence.Mr. Jean said that among other places the assailants targeted a site housing people who had already fled violence.“The bandits raided a displaced persons camp located in a church. They executed several people. There are fatalities and dozens of wounded. Some people were abducted by the criminals,” Mr. Jean said.In a statement issued after the attack, the office of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime expressed “deep compassion” for the bereaved families and all the victims.The government also announced that reinforcements would be sent to restore security in the area.Kenscoff, a mountainous municipality southeast of the Haitian capital, has for several months been the scene of clashes and incursions by armed groups seeking to expand their control.Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has for years suffered from chronic political instability, natural disasters, corruption and violence from powerful gangs that carry out rampant killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings. The gangs control much of the capital city.Nearly 1.5 million Haitians are currently displaced in a country of about 11 million, and more than five million are facing severe food insecurity, according to UN figures.The crisis worsened in early 2024,…