France, July 18 -- Twenty kilometres south of Port-au-Prince in the foothills of a mountain range, Kenscoff has been subjected to sporadic assaults since January 2025.

This month, the gangs attacked again. Between 4-9 July, at least 61 people - including 14 children - were killed in Kenscoff and the neighbouring commune of Petion-Ville, according to the United Nations.

"The toll is truly heavy - these bandits have killed many people, burnt many cars, burnt many houses and forced many citizens to flee their homes," the mayor of Kenscoff, Jean Massillon, told RFI's correspondent Peterson Luxama.

"To this day, there are fathers who cannot stop crying because they have lost their sons, their daughters, their spouses."

With around 65,000 i...