Ladies cry on the web site the place their kinfolk had been killed in a gang assault within the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026.
Odelyn Joseph/AP
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Odelyn Joseph/AP
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — At the least 47 individuals had been killed and greater than 50 others kidnapped when armed males attacked a once-peaceful neighborhood close to Haiti’s capital earlier this week, the United Nations mentioned Tuesday.
It’s believed to be one of many largest mass kidnappings in Haiti lately, and one gang chief is threatening to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they attempt to safe the neighborhood nestled within the hills above Port-au-Prince.
Sunday’s assault on Kenscoff pierced the idea that safety within the troubled Caribbean nation was enhancing.
“It is a main political and safety take a look at, for the federal government, for the police and for the worldwide mission,” mentioned Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory on the World Initiative Towards Transnational Organized Crime.
He mentioned the specter of executing hostages is a entice: If forces do not act, they’ve failed to guard them; in the event that they do and hostages die, the gangs will blame the state.
Kenscoff resident Marc Paul, 42, mentioned gangs kidnapped his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins. He mentioned his 16-year-old niece additionally was kidnapped and raped however was in a position to escape and has reunited with him.
“I needed to run over our bodies,” he mentioned as he recalled how he fled the assault. “I can not sleep figuring out all these individuals died.”
Paul and his household had already misplaced their residence to a earlier gang assault in January 2025, however he mentioned it was not as violent as Sunday’s assault. Paul was upset in regards to the video the gangs posted: “My brother might be going to die.”
A risk posted on social media
In a video posted on social media, the gang chief threatened Vladimir Paraison, director of Haiti’s Nationwide Police.
“Paraison, if any of our troopers are damage, I’ll kill all of them,” he mentioned, referring to the hostages.
The gang member recognized himself as Izo 2, a reference to Izo, or Johnson André, certainly one of Haiti’s strongest gang leaders.
Le Cour mentioned Izo 2 is also referred to as “Didi” and leads the armed group in Kenscoff on behalf of and in coordination with Izo and different gang leaders.
Kenson Paul, the 17-year-old nephew of Marc Paul, mentioned he managed to flee the attackers.
“They haven’t known as us to tell us what they need,” he mentioned of the gang. “I fear for my household’s life.”
Le Cour mentioned the intention of Sunday’s assault could possibly be to drive Haiti’s police and the U.N.-backed gang suppression drive to disperse much more of their restricted sources.
“They do not have sufficient personnel,” Le Cour mentioned in a telephone interview. “Should you drive them to deploy extra troops, it will inevitably be on the expense of different areas.”
The assault may additionally simply be a present of drive and a message to Haiti’s authorities and police because the nation prepares to carry basic elections on Dec. 13 for the primary time in additional than a decade.
“It is a message to the federal government and the police that their claims of safety don’t match actuality,” Le Cour mentioned. “The gangs are saying: after we select to assault, we will, and we are going to succeed.”
Assaults on Kenscoff have escalated
The primary main assault on Kenscoff occurred in January 2025, and since then, there have been sporadic assaults within the mountains surrounding the town middle.
However Sunday’s assault was the biggest but. At the least 5 of the 47 individuals killed had been kids, in line with the United Nations Built-in Workplace in Haiti, generally known as BINUH.
U.N. Secretary-Basic António Guterres condemned the assault on Tuesday, noting that 22 of the victims had been reportedly executed in a church compound the place they’d sought shelter: “The relentless gang assaults on communities and the lack of lives underscore the alarming safety situations in Haiti,” he mentioned.
Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon advised The Related Press on Tuesday that gangs set fireplace to 25 properties and killed two authorities workers together with his cousin, who served as his safety element.
“The atrocity of this crime reminds us that we’ve got to proceed working stronger on daily basis to carry peace to the neighborhood,” Massillon mentioned. “I am optimistic that the state will proceed working to eradicate the gangs in Kenscoff.”
Gangs are coveting Kenscoff as a result of it permits them to encompass and management the upscale neighborhood of Pétion-Ville and alternate routes connecting Haiti’s capital to its southern area, mentioned María Fernanda Arocha, a researcher with the nonprofit Armed Battle Location & Occasion Knowledge.
Between January and August this 12 months, safety operations had managed to scale back violence in Kenscoff by 66% previous to the assault, she mentioned in a press release.
“Whereas safety forces have concentrated their efforts on operations aimed toward regaining management within the central areas of Port-au-Prince, prison teams have as a substitute sought to develop into rural communities which can be susceptible because of the restricted response capability of the police, however which stay strategic hubs,” she added.
Haitians demand police safety
Some survivors accused the federal government of not offering sufficient safety previous to the assault, with Haiti’s Nationwide Police rejecting these accusations.
Le Cour mentioned that if police and armored autos had been certainly stationed in Kenscoff previous to the assault, then the assertion is regarding: “You let the gangs are available even in case you had every little thing in place?”
Haiti’s Nationwide Police issued a press release Tuesday saying Paraison ordered an investigation to determine the reality in regards to the assault “whether or not resulting from complicity or negligence.” He additionally ordered further specialised items to the realm, saying “It’s an obligation to guard the civilian inhabitants.”
Armed males management an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and swaths of land in Haiti’s central area and past.
Gang violence has displaced a document 1.5 million individuals throughout Haiti, the place greater than 3,050 individuals had been reported killed from January to June, in line with U.N. statistics launched Tuesday.
The U.N. famous that just about 800 rapes had been reported from April to June, with 87% of these instances representing collective rapes.
At the least 81 individuals additionally had been reported kidnapped throughout that point interval, in line with a brand new U.N. report.
“These figures symbolize solely a portion of the whole variety of individuals kidnapped,” it acknowledged. “In lots of instances, victims’ kinfolk don’t report kidnappings to the police or service suppliers and select to barter instantly with the abductors, believing that this method permits for a faster launch and avoids doable reprisals.”
The variety of kidnappings reported from April to June represents a greater than 40% improve in contrast with the earlier quarter.
