In brief
Haiti’s National Police have confirmed the death of gang leader Mathias Saintil in a recent operation in Port‑au‑Prince. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils‑Aime hailed the event as a win in the fight against gang domination. The incident is part of UN‑backed gang‑suppression efforts amid a broader crisis of violence in the country.
Haiti’s National Police (PNH) announced that gang leader Mathias Saintil, head of the Boston gang in Cite Soleil, was neutralised in a recent law‑enforcement operation in Port‑au‑Prince, where he was struck by multiple bullets and later died in a hospital.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils‑Aime took to social media to celebrate the event, writing in a mix of French and Haitian Creole: "One less gang leader. The battle to liberate the country from the grip of bandits continues with determination. The gangs won’t be able to sleep!"
"One less gang leader," he wrote.
You are an aljazeera.com article. The prime minister’s post was seen as a signal that the government is pushing forward with the UN‑backed campaign to curb gang violence that has plagued Haiti for years.
Since the 2021 assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse, organised crime has expanded its reach across the capital, with the United Nations estimating that as much as 90 percent of Port‑au‑Prince has fallen under gang control and that at least 26 gangs operate in the region.
The United Nations reports that roughly half of the country’s gang members are children and teens under 18, and that the violence has triggered a humanitarian crisis that has displaced over 1.4 million people.
Stamping this event into the broader context, the police operation reflects ongoing efforts to restore security in a nation that has struggled with political instability, economic decline, and successive natural disasters, and is repeatedly ranked as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
