Haiti gang raid in Kenscoff kills 47 and leaves more than 50 kidnapped

Armed men attacked Kenscoff, in the hills above Port-au-Prince, on the night of 23 August. The United Nations integrated office in Haiti put the dead at 47, including five children, with 22 of them executed inside a church compound where they had gone for shelter. More than 50 people were taken. Twenty-two others were injured.

A gang leader who calls himself Izo 2, also known as Didi, posted a video that showed nearly 20 hostages, including three children. He said he held more. He told Vladimir Paraison, acting director of the Haitian National Police, that if any of "our soldiers" were hurt he would kill the captives. The UN and Haitian officials link the raid to Viv Ansanm, which Washington designated a foreign terrorist organisation last year, acting with Izo's network.

Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack on 25 August. Residents described running over bodies. One 16-year-old girl who was seized later escaped. The house of public-health specialist Jean William Pape was among those hit. Haitian government tallies have sat below the UN figure. Police have given few details of a rescue plan. The United States deported 57 people to Haiti this week while that argument ran.

A mountain town that was supposed to be the spare room

Kenscoff had been treated as a quieter belt above the capital. The first large raid there was in January 2025. Sunday night was the worst since. Haiti is trying to organise its first general election in more than a decade with gangs holding large parts of Port-au-Prince. The threat against the hostages is now the constraint on any police push into the commune.