Video shows hostages, threat directed at Haiti police director
A gang leader who identified himself as Izo 2 posted a video on social media Wednesday showing nearly 20 hostages, including three children, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. The man said he was holding more people captive and warned that any casualties among his fighters or security forces would result in the hostages’ deaths.
“If one of my men or a soldier dies, these people will be killed,” the criminal leader said, according to the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste. The threat was directed at Vladimir Paraison, acting director of the Haitian National Police.
Izo 2, also known as Didi, leads the armed group operating in Kenscoff in coordination with Johnson André, alias Izo, one of the most powerful leaders of the Viv Ansanm criminal coalition.
The attack began on the night of Aug. 23, when armed men stormed central Kenscoff and several surrounding communities. The attackers killed residents, abducted more than 50 people and set homes and vehicles on fire, according to the United Nations.
Twenty-two of those killed were reportedly executed inside a religious compound where they had sought shelter, the United Nations said. The full death toll stood at at least 47 people, including five children.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued an official statement on the attack. “The relentless gang attacks against communities and the loss of life underscore the alarming security conditions in Haiti,” Guterres said.
The Haitian National Police deployed specialized units and opened an investigation into how the attackers reached central Kenscoff despite a security presence there. Paraison ordered investigators to determine whether there had been acts of complicity or negligence.
Prime Minister Fils-Aimé said the government would press ahead with its security operations despite the threats. “Kenscoff will not be abandoned,” he said. “Government authority will be restored, without weakness and without delay.”
Kenscoff occupies a strategic position in the mountains above Port-au-Prince. Controlling the area would allow gangs to encircle Pétion-Ville and dominate alternative routes connecting the capital with southern Haiti, said María Fernanda Arocha, a researcher with the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, or ACLED.
Security operations reduced violence in Kenscoff by 66% between January and August compared with the same period in 2025, according to ACLED. The organization warned, however, that gangs take advantage of the limited police presence in rural communities while authorities concentrate their resources in central Port-au-Prince.
The attack also highlights the difficulties of ensuring secure conditions before general elections scheduled for Dec. 13, Haiti’s first in more than a decade.
Between April and June, at least 1,408 people were killed, 656 were injured, 796 were raped and 81 were abducted in Haiti, according to the United Nations’ quarterly report. The U.N. said the actual number of abductions is probably higher because many families negotiate directly with gangs and do not report them.