At least 47 people, including at least five children, were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped by armed men in Haiti on Sunday, the United Nations confirmed on Tuesday.
The incident, which took place in Kenscoff on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is believed to be one of the largest mass kidnappings in the troubled Caribbean country in recent years.
In a video posted on social media, a gang leader threatened to murder hostages if Haiti’s National Police kill any of his men in an attempt to rescue people.
“If any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them,” he said.
One resident told the Associated Press that gang members had kidnapped his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins. He said his 16-year-old niece was also kidnapped and raped but managed to escape.
“I had to run over bodies,” he said, recalling his own escape. “I can’t sleep knowing all these people died.”
Haiti: UN condemns violence
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack which he said underscored the “alarming security conditions” in Haiti and amplified the need for both domestic and international security efforts.
Via a spokesman, he called for Haitian authorities to “ensure that those responsible for such attacks are held accountable,” including through specialized judicial units recently established with international support to investigate mass crimes.
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Strategic location targeted by gangs
Kenscoff is located around 10 kilometers south of Port-au-Prince at an altitude of around 2,000 meters.
Thanks to its cooler climate, is considered a relatively desirable residential area, while its mountainous location also makes it strategically important when it comes to control of key road connections.
Kenscoff is also close to the political institutions, embassies and banks of Pétion-Ville, a comparatively affluent suburb of the capital.
The first major attack on Kenscoff occurred in January 2025. Since then, there have been sporadic attacks in the mountains surrounding the city center.
But Sunday’s attack was the largest yet, shattering the belief that security in the Caribbean country was improving.
Haiti: ‘Major security test for government’
“This is a major political and security test for the government, for the police and for the international mission,” said Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Le Cour believes the threat of executing hostages is a trap: if the authorities don’t act, they will be seen to be abandoning the captives; but if they do and more people die, the gangs will blame the state.
More than 3,050 people were reported to have been killed in Haiti between January to June, according to UN statistics released this week, while gang violence has displaced an estimated 1.5 million more.
The UN also noted that nearly 800 rapes and over 80 kidnappings were reported between April and June alone.
“These figures represent only a portion of the total number of people kidnapped,” read a statement, pointing out that victims’ relatives often choose to negotiate directly with the kidnappers in the belief that this approach will secure a quicker release and avoid possible reprisals.
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Edited by: Kieran Burke
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