section_path: History (since 2023)/Gang War
section_name: Gang War
paragraph_text: Gang War
  
  In 2023 the situation in Haiti continued to spiral downhill, with the last democratically elected officials leaving office, leaving Haiti without an elected government. Four police officers killed by the Vitel'Homme gang in Petionville and seven police officers killed by the Savien gang on 25 January in Liancourt lead protesting police to storm Prime Minister Ariel Henry's residence. The riots ended a few days later. Canada announced on 6 February that they would begin surveillance flights to Haiti in order to monitor the situation in the country. According to leaked American documents in late February, the Wagner Group began to explore pathways and expressed interest in intervening in Haiti.
  
  A series of battles between gangs in early March led to the deaths of 208 people, kidnapping jumped 72% from the first quarter of the previous year. Doctors, lawyers, and other wealthy members of society were kidnapped and held for ransom. Examples include Jean-Dickens Toussaint and Abigail Toussaint, a Haitian American couple who were kidnapped on 18 March and later released, Robert Denis, the director of the TV station Canal Bleu kidnapped on 11 April, and Harold Marzouka, the Vice-Consul of Saint Kitts and Nevis and CEO of Haiti Plastics, kidnapped on 15 April. Many victims were killed when ransom demands were not met, leading those with the means to do so to flee the country, further hampering efforts to pull the country out of the crisis. Violence continued into April, with three police officers being killed in an ambush on 9 April by the Ti Makak gang in the Thomassin neighborhood. 13 gang members were burned alive by a mob as they were being detained by police.
  
  On 27 July, the United States ordered its non-essential personnel to leave the country as quickly as possible. This order was given the same day an American nurse and her child were kidnapped, with 80% of the capital reportedly controlled by gangs.
  
  On 30 July, Kenya agreed to lead a multinational peace mission in the country.
  
  On 18 September, the feuding G-Pèp and G9 gangs reached an agreement to form a so-called Viv Ansanm ("Live together") coalition. Any hope this inspired was short-lived however, as by 22 September, the Taliban gang of Canaan run by Jeff Larose was leading an attack on the touristic town of Saut-d'Eau at the request of 5 Seconds gang leader Johnson “Izo” Alexandre, resulting in many injuries and at least 12 deaths. The motive for the attack, which lasted several days and spread to Mirebalais, was thought to be related to arms smuggling.
  
  As of September 2023, reports indicated that approximately 80% of the Haitan capital was under the control of gangs. The growing crisis has led to discussions of a potential 1,000 strong United Nations backed Kenyan-led police intervention into Haiti, which Kenya had previously offered but which Haiti was at first reluctant to accept. On 2 October 2023, United Nations Security Council resolution 2699 was approved, authorizing the " multinational security support mission " to Haiti. If such an intervention were to occur, it would be the first time an African Union country would lead a major peacekeeping operation outside of Africa. On 5 October 2023, Kenyan foreign minister Alfred Mutua was replaced by Musalia Mudavadi amid domestic controversy over the plans.
  
  In a 2023 UN report Robert Muggah estimated there could be as many as half a million weapons in Haiti. When interviewed in 2024, he said that "more than 80 percent" of those traced by the " ATF between 2020 and 2022 were made or imported from the U.S."