Haiti’s Capital Plunged Into Chaos as Armed Gangs Kill and Displace Residents

Early on Tuesday morning, armed gangs launched another brutal attack on Haiti’s capital, targeting the Delmas 30 neighbourhood. The violence left several residents dead and forced many more to flee their homes in a desperate attempt to escape the gangs’ unchecked terror. The constant threat of violence has displaced over a million people across the country, nearly 10% of Haiti’s population, as heavily armed gangs continue to expand their control over the capital and surrounding areas, operating with increasing power and impunity.
In the chaos of the attack, Alex Josue, a local resident, couldn’t find a moment of peace. He and his neighbors had been up for days, overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty. The violence was swift and deadly, and Josue knew of at least 15 people who had been killed in the attack. The horror was close to home for him — a friend who sold meat at the Delmas 30 market had been burned alive in front of his child. Nearby, a woman and her child were abducted and also set on fire. Josue, like many others, was left feeling lost and helpless, unsure of where to go or where it would be safe. The only option was to run, following the path of destruction, hoping to outrun the gangs’ violence.
The situation was just as dire for local organizations trying to understand the scope of the attack. Rosy Auguste Ducena, the program director for the local rights group RNDDH, explained that although her team couldn’t yet confirm an exact death toll, reports of shootings, killings, and homes being set on fire were flooding in. The gangs weren’t just targeting one area at a time — they attacked multiple neighbourhoods simultaneously, following a cruel and predictable pattern of violence: murder, arson, shootings, and even sexual assault.
As the residents of Delmas 30 fled for their lives, the scene was one of chaos. People carried whatever belongings they could salvage, mattresses and clothes piled high on their heads as they hurriedly moved away from the violence. Some even had to push the bodies of their loved ones in wheelbarrows, a tragic testament to the brutality of the attack. The fear and confusion were palpable — the constant question on everyone’s mind was: where could they go? There was no safe place, no refuge from the gangs’ reign of terror.
One resident, unwilling to reveal their identity, described the attacks as having started at 1 a.m., with no sign of slowing down. Desperation echoed through their voice as they called out to Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer who now leads a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm, which aims to form a political party. They pleaded for an end to the violence, asking, “What did we do to deserve this?” The community was fleeing, with nowhere to go, caught in the crossfire of a conflict that seemed to have no end in sight.