Dozens Killed in Port‑au‑Prince After Breakaway Faction Clashes With Gang Coalition

Dozens of people in Haiti’s capital were killed after a group of armed men reportedly split from a powerful gang coalition and launched a violent assault, a local human rights organization said Tuesday. The monitors said at least 49 people have been killed, burned or mutilated since the fighting began Monday, and the toll is expected to rise as the area remains inaccessible to authorities.

The victims include 10 children reportedly recruited by gangs and a senior gang figure known as Dèdè, who operated in the Bel‑Air neighborhood and was found beheaded, the Committee for Peace and Development said. Prominent gang leader Kempes Sanon — a former police officer who helped lead the Viv Ansanm coalition — was wounded in the fighting and, according to monitors, appears to have been removed from power while receiving treatment by two men identified as Jamesly and Ti Gason.

The assault is notable because many of Port‑au‑Prince’s gangs had united in September 2023 to form Viv Ansanm ("Live Together"), a coalition that initially reduced inter‑gang violence after members reportedly agreed not to attack one another. The U.S. government has designated Viv Ansanm as a foreign terrorist organization.

So far the human rights group’s count includes 19 confirmed gang members among the dead, 10 children, and a man in his 60s struck by a stray bullet. The monitors also reported that 19 women — whose partners were alleged gang members — were executed by the Krache Dife gang while seeking medical care for relatives at a clinic. Krache Dife ("Spit Fire") is believed to remain allied with Sanon.

"Sanon has played a significant role in consolidating gang power in Port‑au‑Prince," the United Nations noted in a recent report, adding that he has maintained networks inside governmental institutions and security agencies that have helped him evade arrest and facilitate criminal activity.

Hundreds of civilians are sheltering in place as the clashes continue, raising urgent concerns about access to food, medicine and other essentials. The violence compounds an existing humanitarian crisis: more than half of Haiti’s nearly 12 million people were already facing crisis or worse levels of hunger before the attack began.

Analysts warn the outbreak could further destabilize Haiti as it prepares for general elections next year; the country’s transitional government is due to step down in early February. With neighborhoods effectively off‑limits to authorities and human rights teams, independent verification of events and casualty figures remains difficult.

What to Watch: the evolving death toll, whether rival gangs consolidate gains or retaliate, civilian access to humanitarian aid, and any government or international response aimed at stabilizing Port‑au‑Prince ahead of elections.