At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others were kidnapped when armed men attacked Kenscoff, a community in the hills above Port-au-Prince, on Sunday, according to the UN.
A gang leader who identified himself as Izo 2 threatened to kill the hostages if authorities killed any gang members while trying to secure the area. He also warned Haiti’s national police director, Vladimir Paraison, against using drones to repel gangs in Kenscoff.
What happened in Kenscoff
Massillon said two government employees were among the dead, including his cousin, who worked as his security detail. He said members of Viv Ansanm, a gang coalition designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organisation, also set fire to 25 homes.
The mayor said gangs were still roaming Kenscoff’s outskirts after the attack. Some survivors accused the government of failing to provide enough protection beforehand, while police rejected those accusations.
Key figures
- At least five children were among those killed, according to BINUH, the UN integrated office in Haiti.
- Twenty-five homes were set on fire, according to Kenscoff mayor Jean Massillon.
- More than 3,050 people were reported killed and 1,400 injured in Haiti from January to June, according to UN statistics.
- An estimated 1.5 million people have been displaced by gang violence across Haiti.
Why the attack matters
Romain Le Cour, who heads the Haiti observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, described the assault as a major political and security test for the government, police and the UN-backed gang suppression force.
Le Cour said the attack could be intended to stretch limited security resources by forcing police and the international force to deploy more personnel in Kenscoff. He also said it could serve as a show of force before Haiti’s general election scheduled for 13 December, the country’s first in more than a decade.
Kenscoff’s wider security crisis
The first major attack on Kenscoff took place in January 2025, followed by sporadic assaults in the mountains around the city centre. Sunday’s assault was the largest attack there so far.
Armed groups control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and parts of Haiti’s central region and beyond. The latest UN figures cited in the report recorded more than 3,050 killings and 1,400 injuries between January and June.
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