{"id":1024282,"date":"2026-08-26T01:27:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1024282\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T01:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:27:29","slug":"more-than-50-kidnapped-as-violent-gang-attack-in-haiti-kills-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1024282\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 50 kidnapped as violent gang attack in Haiti kills 47"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) \u2014 At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked<\/a> a once-peaceful community near Haiti\u2019s capital earlier this week, the United Nations said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

It is believed to be one of the largest mass kidnappings in Haiti<\/a> in recent years, and one gang leader is threatening to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s attack on Kenscoff pierced the belief that security in the troubled Caribbean country<\/a> was improving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a major political and security test, for the government, for the police and for the international mission,\u201d said Romain Le Cour, head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.<\/p>\n

He said the threat of executing hostages is a trap: If forces don\u2019t act, they\u2019ve failed to protect them; if they do and hostages die, the gangs will blame the state.<\/p>\n

Kenscoff resident Marc Paul, 42, said gangs kidnapped his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins. He said his 16-year-old niece also was kidnapped and raped but was able to escape and has reunited with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to run over bodies,\u201d he said as he recalled how he fled the attack. \u201cI can\u2019t sleep knowing all these people died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul and his family had already lost their home to a previous gang attack in January 2025, but he said it was not as violent as Sunday\u2019s attack. Paul was upset about the video the gangs posted: \u201cMy brother is probably going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

A threat posted on social media<\/p>\n

In a video posted on social media, the gang leader threatened Vladimir Paraison, director of Haiti\u2019s National Police.<\/p>\n

\u201cParaison, if any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them,\u201d he said, referring to the hostages.<\/p>\n

The gang member identified himself as Izo 2, a reference to Izo, or Johnson Andr\u00e9<\/a>, one of Haiti\u2019s most powerful gang leaders.<\/p>\n

Le Cour said Izo 2 is also known as \u201cDidi\u201d and leads the armed group in Kenscoff on behalf of and in coordination with Izo and other gang leaders.<\/p>\n

Kenson Paul, the 17-year-old nephew of Marc Paul, said he managed to escape the attackers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have not called us to let us know what they want,\u201d he said of the gang. \u201cI worry for my family\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Le Cour said the aim of Sunday\u2019s attack could be to force Haiti\u2019s police and the U.N.-backed gang suppression force<\/a> to disperse even more of their limited resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have enough personnel,\u201d Le Cour said in a phone interview. \u201cIf you force them to deploy more troops, it would inevitably be at the expense of other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack might also just be a show of force and a message to Haiti\u2019s government and police as the country prepares to hold general elections<\/a> on Dec. 13 for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a message to the government and the police that their claims of protection do not match reality,\u201d Le Cour said. \u201cThe gangs are saying: when we choose to attack, we can, and we will succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attacks on Kenscoff have escalated<\/p>\n

The first major attack on Kenscoff occurred in January 2025, and since then, there have been sporadic attacks<\/a> in the mountains surrounding the city center.<\/p>\n

But Sunday\u2019s attack was the largest yet. At least five of the 47 people killed were children, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH.<\/p>\n

U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a> condemned the attack on Tuesday, noting that 22 of the victims were reportedly executed in a church compound where they had sought shelter: \u201cThe relentless gang attacks on communities and the loss of lives underscore the alarming security conditions in Haiti,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atrocity of this crime reminds us that we have to continue working stronger every day to bring peace to the community,\u201d Massillon said. \u201cI\u2019m optimistic that the state will continue working to eradicate the gangs in Kenscoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gangs are coveting Kenscoff because it allows them to surround and control the upscale community of P\u00e9tion-Ville and alternate routes connecting Haiti\u2019s capital to its southern region, said Mar\u00eda Fernanda Arocha, a researcher with the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data.<\/p>\n

Between January and August this year, security operations had managed to reduce violence in Kenscoff by 66% prior to the attack, she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile 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,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Haitians deman<\/p>\n

d police protection<\/p>\n

Some survivors accused the government of not providing enough protection prior to the attack, with Haiti\u2019s National Police rejecting those accusations.<\/p>\n

Le Cour said that if police and armored vehicles were indeed stationed in Kenscoff prior to the attack, then the assertion is concerning: \u201cYou let the gangs come in even if you had everything in place?\u201d<\/p>\n

Haiti\u2019s National Police issued a statement Tuesday saying Paraison ordered an investigation to establish the truth about the attack \u201cwhether due to complicity or negligence.\u201d He also ordered additional specialized units to the area, saying \u201cIt is an obligation to protect the civilian population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armed men control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and swaths of land in Haiti\u2019s central region and beyond.<\/p>\n

Gang violence has displaced<\/a> a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,050 people were reported killed from January to June, according to U.N. statistics released Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The U.N. noted that nearly 800 rapes were reported from April to June, with 87% of those cases representing collective rapes.<\/p>\n

At least 81 people also were reported kidnapped during that time period, according to a new U.N. report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese figures represent only a portion of the total number of people kidnapped,\u201d it stated. \u201cIn many cases, victims\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The number of kidnappings reported from April to June represents a more than 40% increase compared with the previous quarter.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) \u2014 At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1024283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[10762,1613,4219,57,8884,15127,409837,22938,1612,2936,409838,409835,50,34163,409839,1206,409836,103,107],"class_list":["post-1024282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-assault","tag-central-america","tag-crime","tag-general-news","tag-haiti","tag-hostage-situations","tag-jean-massillon","tag-kidnapping","tag-latin-america","tag-law-enforcement","tag-mara-fernanda-arocha","tag-marc-paul","tag-news","tag-organized-crime","tag-romain-le-cour","tag-united-nations","tag-vladimir-paraison","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1024282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1024283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1024282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1024282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1024282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}