Gang members attacked displaced people sheltering inside a church near Haiti’s capital, killing around 40, some of them execution-style, the mayor told AFP on Monday.
Massillon Jean, mayor of Kenscoff, a mountainous town in the hills above Port-au-Prince, said around 40 bodies had been counted so far, with searches continuing and some people still missing after the attack on Sunday night. He described it as “a night of terror” in a town that has been plagued by gang violence for months.
Jean said the assailants raided a displaced persons camp housed in a church, executing several people, wounding dozens more and abducting others.The office of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime issued a statement expressing deep compassion for the bereaved families and all the victims, and announced that reinforcements would be sent to restore security in the area.
Kenscoff has for months been the scene of clashes and incursions by armed groups seeking to expand their control. Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has for years suffered chronic political instability, natural disasters, corruption and violence from powerful gangs that carry out killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings, and which control much of the capital.
Nearly 1.5 million Haitians are currently displaced in a country of about 11 million, and more than five million face severe food insecurity, according to UN figures. The crisis worsened in early 2024 when a wave of gang violence forced the country’s unelected prime minister to resign.
Haiti has not held elections since 2016. Its last president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021 and has not been replaced. A general election is scheduled for December this year.
