Two Haitian soldiers, dozen residents killed as gangs seize Delmas 30

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. The Haitian Times will provide updates as more information becomes available. Last updated Wednesday, Feb.26 at 8:00 a.m. EST. 

PORT-AU-PRINCE —Two soldiers from the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH) and about a dozen residents were killed in the Feb. 25 gang attack on Delmas 30, according to a preliminary unofficial toll count. The assault, which began at dawn, left the neighborhood in flames and forced hundreds to flee.

The two soldiers, who were brothers, were off duty and not part of the contingent exchanging gunfire with gang members. This brings the number of Haitian soldiers killed in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area to three in February.  

“Can you imagine two FADH soldiers are dead, and bandits filming them? This situation breaks my heart, I feel outraged,” said singer Lubin ‘Jah B’ Enock on X after witnessing this murder.

On Tuesday afternoon, displaced residents sought shelter wherever they could. Some sought refuge at La Paix Hospital in nearby Delmas 33, while others took shelter at the Ministry of Social Affairs office, also in Delmas 33. Still, many remained stranded, with nowhere to go in a city where gangs took over many neighborhoods. 

Armed gangs stormed the area around 5 a.m., setting homes ablaze and gunning down those in their path. Some victims were shot dead, while others were burned alive as fires spread through the neighborhood. Families ran for their lives, dragging children through the smoke-filled streets as bullets tore through the air and the walls of their homes. 

“What happened in Delmas 30 was a massacre. The gangs killed more than twenty people and burned their bodies. Some victims are unrecognizable,” a member of the neighborhood vigilante brigade said on local media.

Some collapsed in grief after witnessing loved ones fall. Others, clutching the few belongings they could carry, ran with no clear destination, desperate to escape the unfolding bloodshed.

The assault on Delmas 30 was weeks in the making. Rumors of an impending takeover had circulated since early February, intensifying by mid-month. Armed groups made their first attempt to seize the neighborhood on Feb. 23. 

A witness said he saw a neighborhood vigilante wounded—one of many who had been guarding the area since gangs announced their takeover plans. Others recounted going days without sleep, lying down fully dressed with a bag of belongings under their heads, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

“The gangs massacred people in Tabarre 27 and took control of Delmas 30. Meanwhile, the CPT is fighting over who will be president on March 7: Smith Augustin claims it’s him, while Fritz Alphonse Jean says he’s the one taking power,” Lubin added in another post X. 

This latest attack is part of a broader surge in gang violence that has plunged Port-au-Prince into deeper chaos. Gangs now control vast swaths of the capital, displacing families and overwhelming shelters. With state institutions struggling to respond, many Haitians fear the worst is yet to come. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than a million people have been displaced in Haiti. 

On that same day, February 25, gangs attacked Tabarre 27 again. More than a dozen people, including two children, were also killed, several were injured, and houses were burned.

“Where are the officials in charge of the country? Where is the help? How can our authorities allow this—70-year-old elders and seven-year-old girls killed, then burned.” the neighborhood vigilante brigade said.

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 Two Haitian soldiers, dozen residents killed as gangs seize Delmas 30 was first posted on February 26, 2025 at 11:58 am.