Haiti gang attack kills 47, kidnaps more than 50

Armed men killed at least 47 people and kidnapped more than 50 others in a raid on Kenscoff, a hillside community near Haiti’s capital, the United Nations said Tuesday, in what is believed to be one of the country’s largest mass kidnappings in recent years.

The attack, which took place Sunday evening near Port-au-Prince, also injured 22 people, according to the United Nations. At least five of those killed were children, the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti said. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killings, saying 22 victims were reportedly executed in a church compound where they had sought shelter.

“The relentless gang attacks on communities and the loss of lives underscore the alarming security conditions in Haiti,” Guterres said. In a separate statement cited by Al Jazeera, he said the attack reinforced “the urgent need to intensify Haitian and international security efforts to combat gangs.”

Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon said armed men set fire to 25 homes and killed two government employees, including his cousin, who served as his security detail. He said gang members targeted a church and homes, including that of Jean William Pape, a leading public health expert.

“The atrocity of this crime reminds us that we have to continue working stronger every day to bring peace to the community,” Massillon told The Associated Press. “I’m optimistic that the state will continue working to eradicate the gangs in Kenscoff.”

Massillon blamed members of Viv Ansanm, a gang alliance that Al Jazeera reported was designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States government last year.

Survivors described scenes of panic and accused authorities of failing to protect the area. Kenscoff resident Marc Paul, 42, said gangs kidnapped his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins. He said his 16-year-old niece was also kidnapped and raped but escaped and reunited with him.

“I had to run over bodies,” Paul said. “I can’t sleep knowing all these people died.”

Another resident, Coriolan Kendy, told Reuters while standing near his cousin’s body: “People in Kenscoff are suffering and the government is to blame.”

Haiti’s government called the raid a “heinous attack” and promised to reinforce security. The prime minister’s office said on social media that “Kenscoff will not be abandoned” and that “the government’s authority will be restored, without weakness and without delay.”

Haiti’s National Police rejected accusations that it had failed to provide protection. Police said Tuesday that director Vladimir Paraison ordered an investigation to determine whether the attack involved “complicity or negligence” and deployed additional specialized units to the area. “It is an obligation to protect the civilian population,” Paraison said, according to the police statement.

In a video posted on social media, a gang leader threatened Paraison directly. “Paraison, if any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them,” he said, referring to the hostages. The man identified himself as Izo 2, a reference to Izo, or Johnson André, one of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders.

Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said the threat creates a trap for the authorities: if security forces do not act, they fail to protect civilians; if they do act and hostages are killed, gangs will blame the state.

“This is a major political and security test, for the government, for the police and for the international mission,” Le Cour said.

Kenscoff has faced escalating violence since a major gang attack in January 2025. Its location is considered strategic because it overlooks routes into Port-au-Prince and can help armed groups pressure Pétion-Ville and roads linking the capital to southern Haiti. María Fernanda Arocha, a researcher with the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, said security operations had reduced violence in Kenscoff by 66% between January and August before Sunday’s attack.

The raid comes as Haiti prepares for general elections scheduled for Dec. 13, its first in more than a decade. Armed groups control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and areas beyond the capital. U.N. figures released Tuesday said gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, while more than 3,050 people were reported killed from January to June.