A Kenyan police officer deployed to Haiti as part of a security mission under UN auspices is missing following an ambush by suspected gang members, the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) said Wednesday.
The Kenyan officer disappeared on Tuesday during an operation to recover a Haitian police armoured vehicle “stuck in a ditch, suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs”, MSS spokesman Jack Ombaka said in a statement on X.
Two MSS armoured vehicles were deployed for a rescue operation, but one also got stuck while another broke down.
During an attempt to resolve the situation, “suspected gang members lying in wait launched an attack” at around 4:30 pm (2130 GMT) in Haiti’s northwestern Pont-Sonde area, Ombaka said.
“As a result of the incident, one MSS Kenyan contingent officer remains unaccounted for,” he said.
A specialised team is conducting a search, MSS said.
The incident comes after a Kenyan police officer died from gunshot wounds suffered during an operation in February.
The Kenya-led mission has faced heavy criticism at home, with the deployment facing legal challenges.
Nairobi has sent roughly 700 officers, out of an entire mission made up of 1,000 officers, according to an AFP tally.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged the Security Council to provide logistical and financial help to the mission, though he has ruled out a UN peacekeeping force for the time being.
The UN recorded 5,600 deaths linked to gang violence last year, a 20-percent increase compared to 2023, as well as 1,500 kidnappings and nearly 6,000 gender-based violence cases, 69 percent of which were instances of sexual assault.
Gang violence has forced many Haitians to flee their homes and the UN’s migration agency says more than one million have been displaced internally.
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© Agence France-Presse
