Nine killed in drone attack during gang violence in Haiti
- A drone attack in Cité Soleil killed nine people, including four children, and injured 17 on September 20.
- Relatives and community leaders mourned the victims during a funeral, revealing the deep emotional scars left by the violence.
- The incident highlights the growing influence of gangs in Haiti and the urgent need for intervention to address the ongoing crisis.
In Haiti, on September 20, 2023, a drone attack in the gang-controlled area of Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince, resulted in the deaths of nine individuals, including four children, and left 17 others injured. This tragic incident occurred amid an escalation of gang violence in the country, primarily attributed to the rise of powerful gang coalitions such as Viv Ansanm, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States. Families of the victims and community leaders gathered for a collective funeral, mourning the lives lost to the violence. Many attendees were traumatized, mistaking a bird for a drone, which provoked panic at the scene of the funeral. Claudia Bobrun, a devastated mother, could not bear to look at the coffin of her eight-year-old daughter, illustrating the profound emotional impact this violence has on families and communities. The situation in Haiti has been exacerbated since the assassination of President Jovenal Moïse in 2021, which has left the country without strong leadership and allowed gang violence to flourish, displacing more than 1.3 million people. The U.N. Security Council recently voted to authorize an international force of 5,550 members to help curb the escalating violence and restore order, yet millions of Haitians are still frustrated by the lack of improvement in their circumstances despite these efforts.