At least 20 killed in deadly gang assault on Kenscoff
Armed gang members launched an attack on city of Kenscoff, late Sunday into Monday, killing more than 20 people in one of the deadliest single assaults on the community this year.
Heavy gunfire and several explosions were reported through the night as police units moved to repel the assault. Multiple people were wounded, and residents fled the targeted areas in large numbers, according to multiple sources
Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon confirmed to the Associated Press that armed men raided the community late Sunday, setting homes on fire and killing residents. He said it remained impossible to establish a definitive death toll because of access difficulties and communication problems. Survivors described finding the bodies of friends and relatives in the streets as the sun rose Monday
Among the survivors was farmer Mathurin Pierre, 41, who told the AP he had lost 14 relatives in the attack, with an unknown number of others still missing.
Massillon attributed the assault to the “Viv Ansanm” gang coalition. The Mayor said gang members targeted a church as well as homes in the area, including property belonging to Dr. Jean “Bill” Pape, a prominent physician who runs a Haitian nonprofit serving patients with HIV and tuberculosis.
A Community Under Siege
Sunday’s massacre is the latest in a string of attacks that have battered Kenscoff for more than a year and a half as Viv Ansanm has fought to seize the mountain communities. Gangs currently control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince, according to the UN.
The Kenscoff attack comes amid an intensifying, nationwide surge in gang violence. According to United Nations statistics cited by the AP, more than 3,100 people were killed and 1,189 injured across Haiti between January and June of this year alone. Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people nationwide.
The renewed bloodshed in Kenscoff comes less than a week after the United States deported more than 160 people to Haiti, the first such flight since the Trump administration won a legal fight to end Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians.
The attack also underscores the security risks facing Haiti as it prepares for general elections scheduled for December 13. Voter registration is underway in Port-au-Prince and beyond, even as experts have warned that current conditions make holding elections dangerous.
