The Haitian National Police (PNH) confirmed Friday the death of Mathias Saintil, leader of the Nan Boston gang, following a police operation in Cité Soleil. Police say he was shot multiple times. The National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) attributes his fatal injuries to a drone strike and reports that five civilians were killed in another strike in Pierre-Six.
“One less gang leader. The fight to liberate the country from the grip of bandits continues with determination,” Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé wrote on Friday on X. The Haitian National Police (PNH) indicated that several members of armed groups had been killed or seriously wounded since the start of operations on Thursday. They called on residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.
In a report dated November 6, the RNDDH indicates that the Task Force used seven explosive drones Thursday evening in the Pierre-Six, Damien, Sarthe, and Nan Nélio areas. According to the organization, an explosion in Nan Nélio damaged Saintil's residence and the vehicle he was in as he was traveling to a gathering in Pierre-Six. Seriously wounded in the abdomen, he was taken to a hospital in Belécourt, then transferred to Canaan, where he died Friday around 5:30 p.m., while a transfer to Carrefour was being considered.
In Pierre-Six, near the Duvivier police station, the airstrike hit a gathering of armed men and residents around 9 p.m. According to the RNDDH (National Network for the Defense of Human Rights), three civilians died at the scene and ten were hospitalized. Two of them succumbed to their injuries overnight. The organization also reports that approximately eight armed men were killed instantly and about ten were wounded, three of whom later died.
In Damien and Sarthe, the RNDDH estimates that around fifteen armed men were killed. The number of wounded and the civilian casualty figures were still being determined. In Nan Nélio, five members of the Boston gang were reportedly killed and around fifteen wounded. Two of the wounded reportedly had a foot amputated. Three civilians were also reportedly wounded in this area.
The report also indicates that law enforcement intercepted a vehicle carrying fifteen armed men affiliated with the Brooklyn gang, who were heading to Saintil as reinforcements. According to the RNDDH, five were shot dead and six wounded, while the others fled. Wounded members of the armed groups were reportedly transported to medical facilities in Marin, Belécourt, and Canaan.
Saintil led the Nan Boston gang, one of the groups within the G-9 an Fanmi e Alye, and was among the leaders of the Viv Ansanm coalition. In its report S/2025/597, the United Nations Group of Experts on Haiti locates the gang's activities in Boston and Carrefour Drouillard. It attributes to the group murders, arson, rapes, robberies, hijackings of trucks and goods, as well as arms and ammunition trafficking.
In a report published in May 2021, the RNDDH documented the siege of Nan Brooklyn from May to July 2020. According to the organization, men from the Nan Boston and Nan Bélékou gangs, led respectively by Mathias Saintil and Iscard Andrice, had cut off and monitored access routes to this area, where the group of Gabriel Jean-Pierre, alias "Ti Gabriel", operated.
The RNDDH also identified Saintil's gang among the G-9 groups involved in the offensive against Brooklyn in July 2022. In its August 16 report, the organization stated that it had collected testimonies from 52 women and girls who were victims of gang or repeated rapes. It documented more than 300 deaths and at least 210 homes destroyed in the violence it documented in Cité Soleil during this period. In a report published in November 2022, the RNDDH cited Saintil among the gang leaders denounced by victims and indicated that, as of that date, no public action had been taken against those it had identified.
In a separate investigation focusing solely on the Brooklyn borough, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented 263 people killed, 285 wounded, and four missing between July 8 and December 31, 2022. They also documented gang rapes and population displacements. The report states that the G-9 sought to "block access to basic necessities, including water and food."
The report dated November 6 also mentions the aftermath of operations in Croix-des-Missions and the Cul-de-Sac plain, following the disappearance of Salvadoran technicians on October 18. According to information gathered by the RNDDH, Wilson Joseph, leader of the 400 Mawozo known as "Lanmò San Jou," and the gang leader known as "Chen Mechan" reportedly left their areas to take refuge in Canaan 3. Wilson Joseph then allegedly reached Thor 65 in Carrefour with the help of Chrisla, leader of the Ti Bwa gang. Chen Mechan is reportedly still moving between Canaan 3 and the area around Route 9 in Cité Soleil, passing through Nan Moya. The RNDDH also reports that members of both groups have abandoned their usual positions.
Posted Nov. 7,2026