Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Six children and seven women have been released after a mass abduction in Kenscoff, near Haiti’s capital, UNICEF said, offering a rare positive development after a deadly gang attack on the hillside community.

The children include three under the age of two, a seven-year-old and two teenage girls, according to the UN agency. UNICEF said it and community leaders supported efforts that contributed to the release after days of captivity.

The abductions followed an attack in which gangs killed at least 47 people and kidnapped more than 50 others, according to reporting by the Associated Press. It was not immediately clear whether those released needed medical treatment or whether other women and children remained in captivity.

UNICEF said the release should not obscure the broader danger facing children in Haiti, where killings, abductions and other serious violations have become a persistent threat. The agency called on armed actors to stop attacks on children and to release any children still held.