Drone attack in Haiti leaves 8 children dead, several injured
Key Points(5)
- Media reports said the attack, which took place on Saturday, targeted gang leader Albert Steevenson, also known as “Djouma,” who was preparing to celebrate his birthday and distribute gifts to children at the time.
- According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/23/haiti-drone-attack-eight-children-killed">The Guardian</a>, six other children were seriously injured.
- The area is believed to be controlled by the Viv Ansanm (Living Together) coalition of gangs, designated a “foreign terrorist” organisation by the United States in May.
- One of the coalition’s leaders, Jimmy Cherizier, widely known as “Barbecue,” has vowed to avenge the attack.
- Le Cour said the incident raised “urgent questions of accountability.” Several hours have passed since the attack, yet authorities have not released an official statement.
The director of the Haiti Observatory within the Global Initiative Against Organised Crime, Romain Le Cour, has urged Haitian authorities to break their silence and issue an official statement following a drone attack that killed at least eight children in the Simon Pelé neighbourhood of Cité Soleil.
Media reports said the attack, which took place on Saturday, targeted gang leader Albert Steevenson, also known as “Djouma,” who was preparing to celebrate his birthday and distribute gifts to children at the time.
According to The Guardian, six other children were seriously injured.
The area is believed to be controlled by the Viv Ansanm (Living Together) coalition of gangs, designated a “foreign terrorist” organisation by the United States in May. One of the coalition’s leaders, Jimmy Cherizier, widely known as “Barbecue,” has vowed to avenge the attack.
Le Cour said the incident raised “urgent questions of accountability.” Several hours have passed since the attack, yet authorities have not released an official statement.
“Who will ultimately bear responsibility for this attack: the Prime Minister? The Presidential Transitional Council? Private security companies? The leadership of the Haitian National Police?” Le Cour asked.
The Haitian National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH) reported that the explosions were caused by two kamikaze drones launched by a Haitian National Police task force. The organisation said casualty figures are a conservative estimate, with at least four gang members and three civilians believed killed.
Haiti has been grappling with gang violence, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control approximately 80 percent of the city. In June, the government publicly acknowledged using drones when local police posted a video on Facebook of an attack on a gang leader.
At a high-level meeting on Haiti in New York on Monday, the United States, Kenya, and Haiti called for support to transform the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country into a more robust gang suppression force (GSF), ahead of a vote at the United Nations Security Council later this month.
Kenyan President William Ruto acknowledged that the mission’s efforts have been hampered by a lack of material, logistical, and financial resources.
“Of the 2,500 police officers the force was initially supposed to have, fewer than 1,000 are currently deployed. Added to this are defective American armoured vehicles and a lack of international support. We cannot depend on charity. Funding must be predictable,” Ruto said, adding that only a mission with clear objectives, guaranteed resources, and solid logistical support would be able to address these structural deficiencies.
