Chad to deploy 800 troops to Haiti's Gang Suppression Force as Kenya steps back

Chad is getting ready to deploy some 800 police officers to Haiti, Chadian officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity. They’ll join an international effort aimed at tackling widespread gang activity in the Caribbean nation.

The United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force succeeds a smaller Kenyan-led mission that began operations in 2024. The multinational force is staffed by countries including Jamaica, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

The GSF works with Haitian security forces and has the power to arrest and detain suspected gang members.

It’s expected to reach its full capacity of more than 5,500 police and soldiers by October, although efforts to deploy new troops have been slow.

Hundreds of Kenyan officers who have been in Haiti since 2024 will gradually withdraw. Three members of the Kenyan deployment have been killed in the course of their mission.

Haiti has seen a wave of violent crime and escalating gang warfare since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Gangs now control about 90 percent of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince