Kenyan police arrive in Haiti in first deployment since UN expands mandate

A new contingent of 230 Kenyan police arrived in Haiti on Monday, Haiti's national police said, marking the first foreign deployment since the U.N. Security Council approved expanding an existing gang-fighting force in the Caribbean island.



This marks the first deployment since the last time the force was bolstered in February this year, force spokesperson Jack Ombaka told Reuters, adding it now numbered 980 personnel.



The mission is mandated to fight gangs, armed with guns largely shipped in from the United States, that have grown their influence over most of the capital and expanded in central Haiti over recent years, devastating its economy.



Broadly united behind an alliance known as Viv Ansanm, Haiti's gangs are accused of mass killings, gang rapes, extortion and arson, in an extensive conflict that has forced some 1.4 million people from their homes.



The U.N. Security Council at the end of September approved converting the existing mission into a larger "Gang Suppression Force", as the deployment hovered below 1,000 personnel - well short of the 2,500 it had hoped for.