Haiti: the government pledges no truce for gangs after deadly Kenscoff assault

The Haitian government pledged a forceful response Monday after armed gangs stormed the hillside town of Kenscoff overnight, killing dozens of residents and burning homes in one of the deadliest single attacks the commune has endured since gangs began targeting it more than a year ago.

Gunfire broke out late Sunday and continued into the early hours of Monday as heavily armed men swept through several neighborhoods, according to local reporting. Dozens of houses were set on fire, and residents either fled to areas they considered safer or barricaded themselves inside their homes as the fighting with security forces dragged on until daybreak.

Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon told Reuters that at least 30 people were killed in the raid, though other tallies circulating Monday put the toll higher.

Government promises no truce for armed groups

In a press statement issued Monday, the government, acting under the direct authority of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, said it stood with every grieving Haitian family and framed the attack as both a tragedy and a challenge that would be met with the force of law. The statement said all security forces had been placed on maximum alert, that reinforcements were being deployed, and that orders had been given to protect residents, secure the area and intervene, with state authority to be restored over the entirety of Kenscoff’s territory “without weakness and without delay.”

“No armed group will prosper in Haiti,” the government said, adding that those responsible would be given neither truce nor refuge nor impunity, and that security forces had been instructed to pursue, neutralize and disable the attackers. The statement insisted the government was not retreating, negotiating or stepping back, and closed with a pledge that Kenscoff would not be abandoned to gangs.

Police chief visits Kenscoff, promises a response

National Police Director General Vladimir Paraison traveled to Kenscoff’s police station Monday to assess the damage and reassure residents in person. Facing the scale of the tragedy, Paraison said the Haitian National Police (PNH) intended to respond to the armed groups responsible for the violence and pledged that officers would not abandon the community and would remain at residents’ side to strengthen their security. Less than 24 hours after the bloodshed, the commune remained in shock, with several families still mourning relatives.

Rights office calls for accountability

Haiti’s Office of Citizen Protection (OPC), the country’s human rights ombudsman, said it was deeply dismayed by the massacre and called on the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN) and other competent authorities to retake control of the commune, protect the population and bring those responsible to justice. The OPC also urged urgent assistance for victims and bereaved families, reminding authorities that security, the right to life and access to justice are fundamental rights.

A community under siege for more than a year

Monday’s assault is the latest in a long string of attacks that have made Kenscoff one of the deadliest fronts in Haiti’s gang crisis. The United Nations recorded 61 deaths in a separate attack on the commune in July, part of a pattern of incursions blamed on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition that has repeatedly struck neighborhoods such as Robin and forced residents into displacement, according to local officials. An earlier massacre in January 2025 left more than 150 people dead and destroyed more than a hundred homes, according to the human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere, which at the time accused authorities of ignoring warning signs ahead of the attack.