At least 47 people have been killed and more than 50 others kidnapped after armed gangs launched an assault on a 'once-peaceful community' in Haiti. In what is believed to be one of the largest mass kidnappings Haiti has witnessed in recent years, a gang leader has threatened to execute the hostages should authorities kill any gang members during efforts to secure the area.
Sunday's attack (23 August) on Kenscoff, perched in the hills above Port-au-Prince, shattered hopes that security in the troubled Caribbean nation was on the mend.
Political and security test
"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. He warned that the threat to execute hostages presents a dangerous trap: if forces hold back, they've failed in their duty to protect civilians; if they intervene and hostages are killed, the gangs will lay the blame squarely at the state's door.
Kenscoff resident Marc Paul, 42, revealed that gangs abducted his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins. His 16-year-old niece was also taken and sexually assaulted, but managed to escape and has since been reunited with him. "I had to run over bodies," he said, recounting his desperate flight from the attack. "I can't sleep knowing all these people died."
Gang leader's threat
Paul and his family had already lost their home in a previous gang assault in January 2025, though he noted it was nowhere near as brutal as Sunday's violence. Visibly distressed by footage posted by the gangs, Paul said: "My brother is probably going to die." In footage shared on social media, the gang leader issued threats to Vladimir Paraison, director of Haiti's National Police. "Paraison, if any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them," he stated, in reference to the hostages.
The gang member gave his name as Izo 2, a nod to Izo, or Johnson André, amongst Haiti's most powerful gang leaders. Le Cour explained that Izo 2 is also known as "Didi" and commands the armed group in Kenscoff working on behalf of and alongside Izo and other gang leaders.
Impact on families and security forces
Kenson Paul, the 17-year-old nephew of Marc Paul, revealed he managed to flee the attackers. "They have not called us to let us know what they want," he said of the gang. "I worry for my family's life."
Le Cour suggested the purpose of Sunday's assault could be to compel Haiti's police and the U.N.-backed gang suppression force to spread their already limited resources even thinner. He explained: "They don't have enough personnel. If you force them to deploy more troops, it would inevitably be at the expense of other areas."
The assault may also simply be a demonstration of strength and a warning to Haiti's government and police as the nation prepares to conduct general elections on December 13 for the first time in over a decade. "This is a message to the government and the police that their claims of protection do not match reality," Le Cour continued. "The gangs are saying: when we choose to attack, we can, and we will succeed."
Deadliest assault to date
The first significant assault on Kenscoff took place in January 2025, and since that point, there have been intermittent attacks in the mountains surrounding the city centre. However, Sunday's assault was the most devastating to date. At least five of the 47 people killed were children, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack on Tuesday (25 August), noting that 22 of the 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."
Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon told The Associated Press on Tuesday that gangs set fire to 25 homes and killed two government employees including his cousin, who served as his security detail. "The atrocity of this crime reminds us that we have to continue working stronger every day to bring peace to the community," Massillon said. "I'm optimistic that the state will continue working to eradicate the gangs in Kenscoff."
Strategic targeting and response
Gangs are targeting Kenscoff as it enables them to encircle and dominate the affluent community of Pétion-Ville and alternative routes linking Haiti's capital to its southern region, according to María Fernanda Arocha, a researcher with the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data. Between January and August this year, security operations had succeeded in cutting violence in Kenscoff by two-thirds prior to the attack, she confirmed in a statement.
"While security forces have concentrated their efforts on operations aimed at regaining control in the central areas of Port-au-Prince, criminal groups have instead sought to expand into rural communities that are vulnerable due to the limited response capacity of the police, but which remain strategic hubs," she added.
Some survivors accused the authorities of failing to provide adequate protection ahead of the attack, an allegation that Haiti's National Police firmly rejected. Le Cour stated that if police and armoured vehicles were indeed deployed in Kenscoff before the attack, the claim raises serious questions: "You let the gangs come in even if you had everything in place?".
Haiti's National Police released a statement on Tuesday confirming that Paraison had launched an investigation to uncover the truth behind the attack "whether due to complicity or negligence." He also dispatched additional specialist units to the region, stating: "It is an obligation to protect the civilian population."
Wider context of gang violence
Armed gangs are estimated to control around 70 per cent of Port-au-Prince and vast stretches of Haiti's central region and beyond. Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,000 people were reported killed between January and June, according to UN figures released on Tuesday. The UN reported that close to 800 rapes were recorded between April and June, with 87 per cent of those cases involving gang rape.
A further 81 people were reported to have been abducted during the same period, according to the newly published UN report. "These figures represent only a portion of the total number of people kidnapped," it stated. "In many cases, victims' relatives do not report kidnappings to the police or service providers and choose to negotiate directly with the kidnappers, believing that this approach allows for a quicker release and avoids possible reprisals." The number of abductions recorded between April and June marked a rise of more than 40 per cent compared with the preceding quarter.
