Three Haitian police officers and two civilians were killed Wednesday in the country’s central region amid a surge in gang violence, officials and a police union reported.
The fallen officers belonged to UDMO, a specialized unit typically deployed to manage protests and unrest.
A video circulating on social media shows gunmen dragging the bodies of at least two officers near a burning armored vehicle as intense gunfire echoes in the background.
SPNH-17, a local police union, said two “brave citizens” fighting alongside the slain officers in Artibonite also were killed.
The union called on the government to better protect police and warned officers were preparing to revolt.
“The government does not give the police any importance. If they took this seriously, they would have made the means and support available to the police and the military to end the insecurity,” the union said. “Too many police officers have fallen.”
Haiti’s transitional presidential council said the government was mobilizing all necessary resources to investigate the killings and honor the memory of those slain.
From October 2024 through the end of June, more than 1,000 people were killed, 213 injured and 620 kidnapped in Haiti’s Artibonite and Central departments, according to the U.N. human rights office.
A Kenyan-led, U.N.-backed mission is helping Haiti’s National Police quell gang violence, but officers often are overwhelmed by powerful gangs armed with military-grade weapons. At least two Kenyan officers have been killed this year, both in Artibonite.
