Kenscoff Massacre: At Least 40 Dead in Gang Attack on Displaced Persons Camp
An armed gang killed at least 40 people in a displaced persons camp set up in a church in Kenscoff, near Port-au-Prince, during the night of 23 to 24 August 2026.
Deadly Raid in Kenscoff: Dozens Dead in Church Converted into Displaced Persons Camp
At least 40 people were killed during the night of Sunday 23 to Monday 24 August 2026 in a gang raid on Kenscoff, a town of 50,000 people perched in the heights above Port-au-Prince. According to midilibre.fr, the attackers targeted a displaced persons camp set up in a church, also leaving dozens wounded and several people missing.
"We have counted around forty bodies. Searches are continuing. Some people are still reported missing," said the mayor of Kenscoff, Jean Massillon, to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), describing the events as a "night of terror".
The mayor specified that gang members "made an incursion into a displaced persons camp located in a church", executing several people, wounding dozens of others and carrying out kidnappings. The Haitian human rights organisation RNDDH estimated to Reuters that 30 to 40 people had been killed and 15 to 20 wounded. The attack began around 10:30 p.m. local time. The final toll remains difficult to establish, according to the same source.
Kenscoff has been the scene of frequent gang violence for two years. Human rights organisations have documented massacres, rapes, arson and kidnappings, forcing thousands of residents to flee. According to local media, several houses were set on fire during this raid, including that of Jean William Pape, a prominent Haitian public health expert.
The office of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé condemned an "odious attack" and announced that all security forces were on maximum alert, with reinforcements being deployed. "Kenscoff will not be abandoned. The authority of the government will be restored, without weakness and without delay, over the entire territory of Kenscoff," the official statement said. The Haitian national police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The locality occupies a strategic position: it overlooks the routes leading to Pétion-Ville — where several embassies, luxury hotels and the provisional seat of government are located — as well as the roads connecting the capital to the south of the country.
This attack comes as the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force, tasked with supporting the Haitian police, plans to reach its full complement of more than 5,500 troops by autumn 2026.
Source: Google News HT — Port-au-Prince