Haiti: Gang Leader Mathias Saintil Dies After Drone Strikes, With Conflicting Accounts of His Death

Mathias Saintil, leader of the Boston gang in Haiti, died on Friday, November 6, a day after coordinated operations in five communes of Port-au-Prince that involved at least seven kamikaze drones. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé confirmed the death on X, writing: "One less gang leader." Saintil's gang operates in the Cité Soleil slum and belongs to the Viv Ansanm coalition, which the Trump administration designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in May 2025.

Two differing accounts

The National Human Rights Defense Network, one of Haiti's leading rights groups, says a kamikaze drone struck Saintil's home and vehicle in the Nan Nélio area between 9 and 10 p.m. on Thursday. He suffered abdominal wounds and died the next afternoon. The Haiti National Police, in a statement issued after the prime minister's post, says he was struck by multiple gunshots during a police operation and later died in a hospital in the capital. Neither the police nor the rights network has said the two accounts could both be true.

How the operation unfolded

The drones belong to a task force the prime minister created in March 2025. According to Human Rights Watch, it is run from his office with support from Erik Prince's company Vectus Global, and works alongside Haitian police. The rights network counts at least seven kamikaze drones dropped across Tabarre, Croix-des-Missions, Santo, Cité Soleil and La Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. Five of Saintil's men were killed and about 15 wounded. In a separate exchange, task force members intercepted a pickup carrying 15 fighters from another gang, killing five and wounding six.

Saintil was taken to a hospital in Belécourt, then to a facility in Canaan, where he died around 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Wider context

CNN reported that the campaign has involved more than 2,000 drone strikes since March 2025. Human Rights Watch recorded 141 drone operations between March 1, 2025 and January 21, 2026 that killed at least 1,243 people and injured 738, including 17 children and at least 43 adults the group says were not gang members. UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in October 2025 that most of the strikes are likely unlawful under international human rights law.