In Haiti, gangs have launched a new wave of attacks, killing dozens of people

Over the course of a week, at least 47 people were killed in the Haitian town of Kenscoff during attacks by armed gangs, and thousands of residents fled their homes. UN data points to the scale of the violence in Haiti, Reuters reports, writes UNN.

Details

Kenscoff is located on a hillside where more than a dozen attacks have taken place since last year. Some of the victims of the latest attack were killed near a police station, while reports also indicate that people were abducted.

The violence continues as Haiti prepares for its first elections in a decade. At the same time, the country is awaiting the full deployment of a UN-backed multinational force, whose creation the Haitian government requested back in 2022.

The number of victims is rising in Haiti

According to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), about 3,050 people were killed in the first half of 2026. In total, more than 21,000 people have been killed as a result of violence since the beginning of 2022, with the number of victims increasing every year.

In 2026, at least 1,733 people were killed during security operations. They included at least 229 civilians who were not affiliated with gangs and became victims of stray bullets or drone explosions in their homes or on the streets. At least 18 children were also killed during the operations, while there have so far been no reports of investigations into these deaths.

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The situation is accompanied by an increase in sexual violence and abductions. Since the beginning of the year, BINUH has recorded 1,088 victims of sexual violence; most cases involved the gang rape of women, while at least 80 underage girls and two men were also among those affected.

The number of abductions for ransom increased by 47% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first three months of the year. During this period, 81 people were abducted, including government officials, off-duty police officers, business owners and residents of agricultural areas.

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