More than 1,600 killings in Haiti between January and March, per the UN
Most of the victims are gang members. More than 580 injuries were also reported. The spiral of violence in the country continues.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, engulfed in violence
(AFP) More than 1,600 people, mostly armed gang members, died in Haiti during the first three months of 2025, as criminal groups stepped up their territorial offensive, the United Nations (U.N.) announced Wednesday.
Between Jan. 1 and March 31, "1,617 people were killed and 580 injured as a result of gang violence, self-defense groups and unorganized members of the population, as well as during police operations," according to the quarterly report from the U.N. political mission in the country (BINUH).
These figures represent a decrease from the previous quarter (1,741 deaths from October to December) and the first quarter of 2024 (2,505 deaths), but the intensity of violence is not necessarily linear with the numbers, varying according to gang attacks and police operations.
"Between January and March 2025, despite the large number of deaths among their ranks (936 individuals), the gangs intensified their efforts to extend their territorial control in and around the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area," the report noted.
"They have focused especially on neighborhoods such as Delmas 30 and Carrefour Feuilles," which, if taken over, would facilitate their passage to Pétion-Ville, "one of the last areas unaffected by gang control" and home to embassies, banks and other institutions.
At the end of March, the gangs also launched "violent attacks" against the towns of Mirebalais and Saut-d'Eau, in the Centre department, to "control access to the border with the Dominican Republic along a stretch of almost [50 miles]"
The U.N. also highlighted that "three dynamics of violence and abuses have been consolidated" that had clearly emerged in 2024: violence directly linked to gang criminal activity (responsible for 35% of deaths and injuries), police operations against gangs and "executions" involving police officers (56% of deaths and injuries) and, finally, violent actions by self-defense groups, in particular the popular justice movement known as Bwa Kalé (9% of deaths and injuries).
LATEST
