Haiti's government is using its security forces and contractors to carry out "large-scale, deadly" drone strikes on criminal gangs that are also endangering civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on March 10.
Drone strikes killed at least 1,243 people during 141 operations between March 1, 2025, and Jan. 21, 2026, including at least 43 adults who apparently were not members of criminal groups and 17 children, HRW said.
The drone strikes injured 738 people, at least 49 of whom did not belong to criminal groups, it added.
Gangs now control 90 percent of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, and killed nearly 6,000 people in 2025, according to the U.N.
For years, Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has been in the throes of deadly gang violence, with frequent murders, rapes and kidnappings.
About 1.4 million people, or 10 percent of the population, have been displaced by the violence, and nearly half of all Haitians face acute food insecurity, including 1.2 million children under the age of five.
"Dozens of ordinary people, including many children, have been killed and injured in these lethal drone operations," said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
"Haitian authorities should urgently rein in the security forces and private contractors working for them before more children die."
The U.N.'s Integrated Office in Haiti has attributed the drone attacks in Haiti to a task force created by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime with operational support from the private military company Vectus Global.
