PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) \u2014 Six children and seven women were released by a gang in Haiti that had kidnapped more than 50 people after launching a deadly attack on a community near the capital, Port-au-Prince, nearly a week ago, according to UNICEF.<\/p>\n
The United Nations children\u2019s agency said late Friday that among those released are three children under the age of 2, a 7-year-old and two teenage girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis release offers a rare moment of hope amid the violence threatening children in Haiti,\u201d said Yannig Dussart, UNICEF\u2019s deputy representative in Haiti. \u201cThe Kenscoff abduction was not an isolated incident but another stark reminder of the scale and frequency of attacks on children across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
UNICEF said it worked with community leaders to help secure the release of the women and children. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear if they needed medical treatment, and whether there are more women and children being held.<\/p>\n
While individual kidnappings in Haiti are commonplace, mass abductions are more unusual. The outcomes vary: Some people are released without a ransom, while others are killed despite multiple ransoms being paid.<\/p>\n
Gangs killed at least 47 people during the attack late Sunday on Kenscoff, a once-peaceful farming community nestled in the hills above Haiti\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
A gang leader known as Izo 2 had threatened to execute all the hostages if police killed any gang members in their push to secure Kenscoff. Izo 2 leads an armed group in that area on behalf of and in coordination with other gang leaders including Izo, considered one of Haiti\u2019s most powerful gang leaders.<\/p>\n
The recent attack sparked an outcry Friday at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council for swift deployment of the new U.N.-backed gang-fighting force and action to rein in the lawless bands.<\/p>\n
Diplomats at the meeting called by the United States, Panama and Colombia expressed horror at the brutal attack.<\/p>\n
Luis Ruiz Massieu, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, said the attack has generated \u201ca new wave of public indignation across all sectors of Haiti\u2019s society, as well as international partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz Massieu welcomed the decision by Haiti\u2019s authorities to bring together the national police, armed forces and the gang suppression force to assess developments and coordinate plans. It was agreed that the gang suppression force would strengthen its presence in Port-au-Prince and that Haitian forces would reinforce their deployment in Kenscoff.<\/p>\n