Around 40 dead in gang attack near Haiti’s capital
Armed gang members killed approximately 40 people in a church in Kenscoff, Haiti, targeting displaced individuals. The attack highlights the ongoing security crisis and political instability in the country.
Why it matters
The incident underscores the severe humanitarian crisis in Haiti, where gang violence has displaced millions and paralyzed the government.
Gang members attacked displaced people huddling inside a church near Haiti’s capital, killing around 40, some of them execution-style, the mayor told AFP on Monday (August 24, 2026).
“We have counted around 40 bodies. Searches are continuing. Some people are still missing,” after the attack Sunday night (August 23, 2026) in the town of Kenscoff in the hills above the capital, its mayor Massillon Jean said.
He described “a night of terror” in a town plagued for months by gang violence.
Mr. Jean said that among other places the assailants targeted a site housing people who had already fled violence.
“The bandits raided a displaced persons camp located in a church. They executed several people. There are fatalities and dozens of wounded. Some people were abducted by the criminals,” Mr. Jean said.
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