Haitian gangs release 13 captives after mass kidnapping in Kenscoff

The United Nations has announced that six children and seven women kidnapped last week in the hillside community of Kenscoff, Haiti, have been released.

In a statement late on Friday, representatives from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) used the news to call attention to the ongoing crisis unfolding in Haiti — and the toll it has taken on the country’s youth.

“This release offers a rare moment of hope amid the violence threatening children in Haiti,” said Yannig Dussart, the group’s deputy representative in Haiti.

“The Kenscoff abduction was not an isolated incident but another stark reminder of the scale and frequency of attacks on children across the country.”

The freed captives were part of one of the largest mass abductions in recent memory in Haiti.

On the night of August 23, an estimated 150 armed gang members are believed to have attacked Kenscoff, which sits on the hillsides overlooking the capital Port-au-Prince and the suburb of Petionville.

Reports from the UN indicate that the armed attackers opened fire on residents in the streets and pursued some locals into a nearby Protestant church.

There, those who had taken shelter were forced outside. Some attempted to flee. The UN estimates 22 were killed in the church’s courtyard, and another dozen behind the building.