Gang Kills 47 in Attack on Haitian Church Sheltering Displaced Families
Members of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition attacked Ark of the New Testament, an evangelical church in Haiti's Kenscoff commune, from the night of August 23 into the following morning, killing 47 people and kidnapping more than 50 others. The church's prayer center had been sheltering families already displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince. According to the United Nations, at least 22 people were executed inside the church itself, and at least five of those killed were children. The attackers also set homes and animals ablaze during the hours-long assault.
Viv Ansanm, which the United States has designated a transnational terrorist organization, controls most of Haiti's capital and has increasingly targeted communities on its outskirts. An analyst with the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said gangs in Haiti rely on large-scale killings of civilians to subdue local populations and assert territorial control, a pattern residents of Kenscoff say has left them with nowhere safe left to shelter.
