Published on BreakingExpress:
“From a quiet life to the terror of armed gangs: The story of Haiti’s Kenscoff district” originally published on Global Voices on November 9, 2026. Licensed under CC BY 3.0. Text-only republication; media omitted and formatting sanitized.
On October 19, a unit of Salvadoran soldiers was also ambushed; the situation remains tense
Originally published on Global Voices
View of the hills from the road from Port-au-Prince to Kenscoff. Photo by Ketounette via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
In the heights of Pétion-Ville, more than 1,500 metres above sea level, sits the municipality of Kenscoff. A rural area just 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) southeast of downtown Port-au-Prince, Kenscoff is an idyllic contradiction of sorts. Its breathtaking landscape is dominated by pine trees and mountain ridges, dotted with terraced gardens and agricultural fields that supply fruit, vegetables and flowers to Port-au-Prince markets, grocery chains and restaurants. Yet, because of its high elevation, it can also get very cold and foggy, with the sun often setting by five in the afternoon.
The majority of Kenscoff’s residents are peasant farmers, though some wealthy Haitians, craving more peace, quiet, and fresh air, have chosen to leave the nearby urban areas of Port-au-Prince and Pétion-Ville for the area’s pastoral charm and community spirit.
Kenscoff was famous for hosting recreational events where people would come to spend the day, eat fritay (fried foods), ride horses, and visit Fort Jacques, the area’s main historic site. Visitors would also frequent Ranch le Montcel — now temporarily closed (burned during gang violence in 2025) — and Chalet Le Refuge, a once popular recreational, social and dining centre, now also closed.
But that was a different Kenscoff, before armed gangs attacked the town in two deadly attacks this year — July 7–8 and August 23–24 — burning down houses, killing 164 people, and kidnapping and displacing others. Like many other regions in the country, the Kenscoff community suddenly turned from peaceful daily living into being held to ransom by criminal elements.
It all began about two years ago, when the area began to be disrupted by gangs’ attempts to invade the mountains and establish bases there, foiled by the vigilance of residents’ self-defence brigades, with the help of the Haitian police and army. Yet, every time these attacks occurred, several civilians would be killed, while others abandoned their homes, seeking refuge in the centre of Pétion-Ville, which was less exposed to gang violence.
According to a report by the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) on the two massacres, the apathy shown by the government and high-ranking security officials, despite warnings, contributed to the scale of the losses.
On September 18, close to a month after the second attack, lawyer, human rights activist and RNDDH Programme Director Rosy Auguste Ducéna detailed what happened during her appearance on the show Se Sa NOU VLE, hosted by Rudy Thomas Sanon on the Team Rudy Officiel YouTube channel.
For its investigation, she said, the RNDDH collected testimonies from various local authorities, including the interim mayor and his deputy chief of staff, the justice of the peace (District judge) and his deputy, the police chief, police officers, members of self-defence brigades, and about 100 victims and their relatives who managed to survive.
But these two massacres were not Kenscoff’s first experience with this type of violence. The town suffered its first attack from January 27 to 29, 2025, forcing many people to flee to the Kenscoff town hall to find shelter. There they stayed until Easter 2026, when the interim mayor relocated them to the Afè Nèg Konbit school in the Robin area, which was considered relatively safe. As the terror of July 7-8 later proved, Ducéna said, this turned out to be a false sense of security:
Jou 7 jiyè 2026 la, popilasyon an rete yo wè bandi yo ap koupe pye bwa, yo itilize pye bwa sa yo pou yo fè barikad, e yo pa konprann poukisa. Se pa la swit lè masak la pral vin pase lannwit 7 pou louvri 8 jiyè, ke yo pral konprann yo te fè barikad sa yo pou te anpeche vehikil blende la polis yo rive nan lokalite Robin. Nan sware 7 pou louvri 8 jiyè sa, yo atake plizyè zòn ki fè pati lokalite Robin.
On July 7, 2026, the population suddenly saw the bandits cutting down trees and using them to build barricades, and they didn’t understand why. It was only after the massacre, which happened during the night of July 7 into July 8, that they realised the bandits built those barricades to prevent police armoured vehicles from reaching the Robin area. During that night, they attacked several zones that are part of Robin.
She added:
Yo touye moun, yo itilize kadav moun yo kòm barikad yo mete bò kote bwa yo te itilize kòm barikad yo tou. Apre sa yo rantre nan kan ki andedan lekòl la, yo tire sou moun, yo boule moun tou vivan, yo touye moun yo pike dife sou kadav yo, yo boule zafè moun yo andedan espas la.
They killed people, and they used the dead bodies as barricades alongside the trees. Then, they went inside the camp at the school. They shot at people, burned people alive, killed people and set their bodies on fire, and burned people’s belongings inside the space.
After this, Ducéna explained, the community tried to recover, but persistent rumours began to spread about another potential attack by the gang led by Didier Chérisme — known as “Didi” or “IZO 2”, a member of the criminal coalition Viv Ansanm.
Rumblings of a planned second massacre grew so strong that on July 27, the head of the Kenscoff police station sent a report to his superiors requesting additional armoured vehicles. The very next day, he sent a second report asking to reinforce the operational capacity of the Kenscoff police station.
Despite these two urgent requests, the Kenscoff station received no logistical or human support, making it easier for the gang to attack the town on August 23–24. Police officers were outnumbered and lacked the vehicles needed to counteract the attack. According to Ducéna, the information that was collected showed that a large-scale massacre was being prepared, “but there was no response — absolutely no response.”
The RNDDH report details that just a few days before the massacre, the police high command had reduced the number of officers assigned to Kenscoff by nearly 60 percent. They also reduced the number of armoured vehicles available to the station.
Meanwhile, days before the massacre, the bandits infiltrated the area with the help of certain locals. They also used surveillance drones to monitor the movements of the community and track the presence of law enforcement. The attack started around 10:00 p.m. on the night of August 23 and continued into the following day as gang members surrounded downtown Kenscoff, making their way through several neighbourhoods before entering the town centre.
As they moved, they committed multiple atrocities and created distractions to make the police believe they were attacking several areas at once. This forced officers to intervene in different places every time the gangs carried out a quick attack. This made it easier for the bandits to infiltrate the heart of downtown.
As Ducéna concluded:
Sa vle di n ap pale la ke bandi yo ap fè se de operasyon ki byen kalkile, byen chapante, byen prepare.
This means we are talking about operations by the bandits that are well-calculated, well-structured, and well-prepared.
Once the gangs reached the immediate vicinity of the police station and the Kenscoff town hall, the situation began to deteriorate significantly. “From that moment on,” Ducéna noted, “they unleashed violence against the population of Kenscoff. People’s age, gender, disabilities, or vulnerability did not stop them in their rage and their desire to kill people at all costs.”
The nightmare continued that night when the attackers entered the L’Âge de la Nouvelle Alliance church, which had been serving as a shelter for people who had already been displaced by previous massacres. Ducéna is convinced that the gang knew people had taken refuge there, and many atrocities were committed. Just as with the July massacre, gang members killed residents, injured and burned others alive, raped women and young girls, and burned down houses, cars and motorcycles.
The slaughter continued until about 3:00 a.m., when a group of police officers and vigilance committee members intervened and limited any further damage. Despite being forced to retreat, however, the gangs kidnapped more than 60 people, including women, young girls, babies, and the sick and elderly.
A few days later, through mediation by a citizen named Luckson Jean (also known as “Frè Luckson”), who runs a children’s center, and the support of UNICEF, several children and babies were released. However, dozens of people are still being held hostage under constant threat of execution, should the police intervene.
A few days after the massacre in Kenscoff, the Haitian National Police (PNH), with armoured vehicles and the private military company Vertus Global owned by Erik Prince, carried out operations to clear the area of armed gangs using helicopters and drones. According to a report by the Haitian National Police, six hostages were released, and several gang members were seriously injured or killed. However, the police have not yet provided any information about the other people who were taken hostage. For now, life in Kenscoff is slowly returning to normal, but fear remains in people’s minds.
In and around the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, the security situation remains dangerous, particularly in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, to the northeast of Port-au-Prince.
On October 18, the gang led by Claudy Célestin (aka “Chen Mechan”), which is also a member of the Viv Ansanm criminal coalition and controls the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area, ambushed a unit of Salvadoran soldiers with a combination of gunfire and Molotov cocktails. The soldiers were employed as military aviation technicians with the United Nations-sanctioned Gang Suppression Force (GSF).
Since then, El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, has deployed major resources in an attempt to rescue the four missing soldiers, and has promised a strong response against the gang if the men are not found alive. For its part, Haiti’s national security forces, including the police, army and GSF, have been carrying out operations northeast of the capital against Célestin’s gang, as well as the 400 Mawozo gang led by Wilson Joseph (known as “Lanmò San Jou”), its main ally.
According to eyewitnesses and reports broadcast by local radio stations, the four soldiers were killed, but at the time of publication, neither the Haitian authorities nor the GSF had confirmed this.
On November 4, during an operation in the Plaine du Cul-de-sac municipality of Croix-des-Bouquets, the Haitian national police, supported by the GSF, managed to enter the area where the attack took place. There, the police found the Salvadorans’ vehicle completely burned. Operations continue in Croix-des-Bouquets and other areas with local forces and the active participation of the Salvadoran reinforcements.
Over 2,000 Salvadoran soldiers are now deployed on the ground. This military presence has raised hope among Haitians, who have been suffering from gang terror for almost six years without interruption.
Source: Global Voices
