Armed gang members stormed a displaced persons camp inside a church in the hillside town of Kenscoff, southeast of Port-au-Prince, killing approximately 40 people in what local officials described as a night of terror. The mayor of Kenscoff, Massillon Jean, confirmed that around 40 bodies had been counted, with searches still under way and some people still missing. Several victims were executed at close range, others were wounded, and an unknown number were abducted by the attackers. The assault began around 10:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The United Nations put the death toll at no fewer than 47, with 22 others injured, while the Haitian human rights organisation RNDDH estimated between 30 and 40 killed and 15 to 20 wounded, cautioning that the full picture remained difficult to establish. Residents expressed fury at the lack of protection, with some calling for the resignation of the local police commander, saying officers had failed to defend people killed within sight of a police station. Dozens of officers did attempt to repel the attackers during the night and some were wounded in the fighting, according to witnesses. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé's office condemned the attack and promised reinforcements, stating that Kenscoff would not be abandoned and that government authority would be restored.

Kenscoff, a mountainous municipality overlooking the roads leading into the capital, has been subjected to repeated gang incursions since last year. UN estimates indicate that attacks in early 2025 alone killed more than 260 people, destroyed or burned around 200 homes, and forced some 3,000 residents to flee. More than ten further attacks have followed, involving rape, kidnapping, arson, and livestock theft. The displacement camp inside the church targeted on Sunday night was itself a product of this earlier violence — people who had already lost their homes were among those killed.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has endured years of political instability, natural disasters, and pervasive gang violence. Powerful armed groups, operating under a broad coalition, control an estimated 70 percent of the capital and have steadily expanded into surrounding regions despite international efforts to bolster the country's under-resourced police force. A UN-backed security force is currently being assembled to support local police. Nationwide, around 1.5 million of Haiti's approximately 11 million people are internally displaced, and more than five million face severe food insecurity.

The country has had no elected president since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his bedroom in July 2021. Haiti has held no elections since 2016, and a general election is now scheduled for December of this year — the first in a decade. Sunday's massacre is likely to intensify existing concerns about whether conditions are safe enough for a vote to proceed, with experts warning that security across much of the country remains deeply precarious.