UN says 13 captives released after mass kidnapping in Kenscoff, Haiti
The United Nations says 13 people kidnapped during a major gang attack in the Haitian hillside community of Kenscoff have been released. The group included six children and seven women, according to a statement from UNICEF. The release comes after an assault on August 23 that left at least 47 people dead and more than 50 abducted.
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UNICEF said the freed captives had been taken last week in one of the largest mass abductions reported in Haiti in recent memory. Yannig Dussart, the agency's deputy representative in Haiti, said the release offered a rare moment of hope amid violence threatening children in the country. He also said the Kenscoff abduction was not an isolated incident, but another reminder of the scale and frequency of attacks on children across Haiti.
The August 23 attack was carried out by an estimated 150 armed gang members, according to UN reporting cited in the source material. The attackers are said to have opened fire on residents in the streets and pursued some people into a Protestant church near the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the suburb of Petionville. The UN estimates that 22 people were killed in the church courtyard and another dozen behind the building, while some homes were set on fire and about 2,647 residents were displaced.
The incident underlines the continuing security crisis in Haiti, where armed groups have expanded their influence amid years of political instability and repeated shocks. Kenscoff sits on the hillsides overlooking Port-au-Prince, placing it close to the centre of the country's most acute security pressures. The attack also adds to concern over the impact of gang violence on children and families, especially in communities already facing displacement and fear.
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Armed groups have long operated in Haiti, but their reach has grown in recent years as the state has struggled to contain organised violence. The source material also notes that the country has been weakened by natural disasters and other crises, which have compounded insecurity and displacement. In that context, the release of the 13 captives is significant, but it does not alter the broader pattern of mass killings, kidnappings and forced flight reported in the area.
What remains unclear is who secured the release of the captives and whether any negotiations were involved. It is also not known whether the remaining abducted people have been found or what protection is in place for displaced residents. The next developments to watch are any further official updates on the missing, the condition of those released, and whether there is any change in gang activity around Kenscoff and the capital.
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