UN chief condemns mass killing in latest gang attack in Haiti

UNITED NATIONS (CMC) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday condemned the latest gang attack in Haiti that left at least 11 people dead and several others injured in Gros-Morne’s third communal section on Monday. Among those killed were four members of the same family who were transporting a sick woman to hospital when they were caught in a violent crossfire. Three suspected members of the Kokorat San Ras armed gang were fatally wounded. Interim Mayor Hubert Cénéac, said the killings followed a confrontation between the Kokorat San Ras gang and a Sri Lankan contingent of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in the nearby Savane Longue communal section. He said security forces raided the area to clear a stretch of the national road linking the Northwest and Artibonite departments, where the armed group had set up a checkpoint to extort drivers and passengers. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council voted to extend the mandate of the 5,500-strong GSF for six months as Haiti prepares for elections in December. “I can tell you that the Secretary-General condemns the reported gang attack on Monday in Gros-Morne, which is one of the communes in that department, which reportedly left at least 11 people dead,” said Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the Secretary-General. “This horrific attack is another reminder of the heavy toll that gang violence continues to take on Haitians living in areas under the control or just under the influence of armed gangs,” he said, adding, “it also underscores the urgency of strengthening security efforts in Haiti”. Dujarric said this includes the full deployment of the GSF, “which is there in Haiti in support of the Haitian National Police, as well as we need to improve the broader efforts to address the drivers of violence and instability that we have seen in Haiti. “According to our colleagues at the Human Rights Office, more than 3,000 human beings were killed in Haiti between January and June of this year,” Dujarric said, adding “we and our partners continue to provide food, healthcare, psychosocial support, and emergency cash assistance. “However, humanitarian needs continue to outpace available resources. As you can imagine, more funding is needed.” Meanwhile, Haiti’s Catholic Bishops have, in a statement, said that the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country’s “descent into hell causes us increasing alarm every day. “The general situation is deteriorating before our horrified eyes: on one hand, the alarming advance of armed groups occupying our neighbourhoods and the surge in kidnappings—which traumatise our families and disrupt the functioning of schools and universities; and on the other, the spectacle of failing governance, unable to restore public peace or protect the population.” The bishops say that Haiti is “facing profound confusion, a glaring lack of leadership, and an absence of long-term vision. “The population has been left to fend for itself. The horrific Kenscoff massacre remains fresh in everyone’s minds, and the blood of the victims cries out to heaven for justice,” they said. A brutal gang attack on the farming community of Kenscoff on August 23–24, 2026, left at least 47 to over 164 people dead and dozens kidnapped, according to the authorities.