Haiti Gang Violence Killed 613 Around the Capital in Five Months, the UN Says

Between March 6 and July 31, the United Nations recorded at least 613 deaths and 375 injuries resulting from gang violence around Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. The victims included 111 women and 77 children with no association to gang members. The UN Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH, reported that the deadliest clashes took place between gangs in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac and Cité Soleil districts.

Over 18,000 people fled their homes in these areas alone. The report also documented at least 176 women and girls who were raped by gang members. Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Haiti, stated that the level of violence in part of the capital was the highest seen since early 2024. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) closed the Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital in Cité Soleil due to treating 27 gunshot patients within 24 hours.

This was the second suspension in less than two months, leaving thousands of women without access to sexual and reproductive health care. In the Artibonite region, a massacre in Gros-Morne left at least a dozen people dead, and a Taliban gang attacked the town of Arcahaie, killing at least one truck driver. The National Human Rights Defense Network reported at least 10 gang massacres in the first half of 2026, resulting in over 2,000 deaths.

The upcoming December 13 presidential and legislative elections, the first in a decade, and subsequent local elections pose a significant challenge to the safety of polling stations amid ongoing gang violence. Haiti is also facing a displacement crisis, with around 1.4 million people displaced nationwide and a new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) being deployed in Cité Soleil and Artibonite to combat gang activity ahead of the elections.