Six Children, Seven Women Freed After Deadly Kidnapping in Haiti

Six children and seven women who were abducted during a deadly gang attack on the Haitian farming community of Kenscoff have been released after days in captivity, UNICEF announced this week, offering a measure of relief in a region gripped by escalating violence.

The release, confirmed on August 28, 2026, came after armed men attacked Kenscoff, a community in the hills above Port-au-Prince, in a late-Sunday assault that killed at least 47 people. More than 50 people were taken captive during the attack. UNICEF and local community leaders were involved in the efforts that contributed to securing the release of the 13 hostages.

Children among those freed

Among the six children released were three infants under the age of two, a seven-year-old, and two teenage girls. The seven women released had also been held since the attack. UNICEF has not disclosed how many people, including children, remain in captivity, though outside reporting on the incident suggests dozens of people taken in the same attack are still unaccounted for.

Yannig Dussart, UNICEF's Deputy Representative in Haiti, called the release "a rare moment of hope amid the violence threatening children in Haiti." The organization has not named the specific armed group responsible, though the attack has been linked to gang networks that control large parts of the area surrounding the capital.

A rare moment of hope, but not the end

UNICEF was careful to frame the release as a partial and fragile development rather than a resolution. The organization is calling on armed actors to stop attacks on children entirely and to immediately release anyone still being held captive from the Kenscoff attack or elsewhere in the country. It is also pressing for stronger child protection systems and continued support for children recovering from violence, including help reintegrating into their communities and schools.

Those calls reflect the scale of the crisis facing Haitian children more broadly. Armed violence has displaced close to 1.5 million people across the country, roughly 12 percent of the population, and children make up about half of that number. Kidnappings, killings, and other grave violations against children have become a recurring pattern rather than an isolated occurrence, according to child protection groups working in the country.

Part of a larger crisis

The attack on Kenscoff, once known as a quiet farming community, reflects how gang violence has continued to spread beyond central Port-au-Prince into surrounding areas in 2026. Humanitarian organizations have also documented thousands of cases of gender-based violence nationwide this year, alongside ongoing efforts by armed groups to disrupt planned elections.

Against that backdrop, the safe return of 13 people to their families stands out as a genuinely welcome development, even as it underscores how much work remains. UNICEF and its partners say they will continue working with community leaders and local authorities to press for the release of anyone still held and to expand protection for children caught in the middle of Haiti's ongoing violence.

For the families of the six children and seven women freed this week, the outcome offers something increasingly rare in Kenscoff: a reunion instead of another loss.