Gang Attack in Haiti Leaves Dozens Dead in Town Near Port-au-Prince

At least 42 people were killed in an overnight gang assault in the hillside town of Kenscoff, south of Port-au-Prince, according to Haitian media and local officials, in the latest sign that armed groups are pushing deeper into areas once considered safer.

Mayor Jean Massillon told Radio Télé Galaxie that attackers struck the municipal center after dark, torching homes and forcing their way into a church where displaced people had been sheltering. Police eventually pushed the gunmen back and regained control of the town, the broadcaster reported, though local accounts of the death toll varied from 20 to 47. It was not immediately clear whether the raid was aimed at looting or at extending the gangs' territorial reach.

Haiti's transitional government confirmed the assault but avoided giving a casualty figure, calling it a "heinous criminal assault" and putting security forces on maximum alert. Additional reinforcements were sent to Kenscoff, a leafy district roughly 10 kilometers from the capital that sits about 2,000 meters above sea level and has long drawn residents seeking cooler weather.

The attack underscored how far gang violence has moved beyond Port-au-Prince's poorest neighborhoods. Armed groups, which now control more than 80 percent of the capital, have pushed into outlying communities in recent months, with reports of sexual violence and the recruitment of children. The UN said earlier this year that gang attacks had killed 2,300 people in Haiti between January and May, with more than 1,100 injured and nearly 100 abducted.

Kenscoff had been relatively sheltered because of its location and climate. Its targeting is likely to raise new questions about the government's ability to protect the broader metropolitan area ahead of the country's first general election since 2016, scheduled for December 13. Haiti has had no president since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021, and the security situation has deteriorated sharply since then, leaving much of the country in the grip of heavily armed gangs.

The UN and humanitarian groups have warned that the instability is deepening one of the Americas' worst humanitarian crises. With a population of nearly 12 million and limited state control beyond the capital, Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and faces an uncertain path to elections and recovery.