Kenyan police officers deployed to Haiti on Tuesday carried out their first major targeted operation alongside the Haitian National Police.
In a statement, the Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti (MSSM) said the planned joint operation, led by Normil Rameau, DG HNP, and Godfrey Otunge, MSSM Force Commander, began in the early hours of the morning and saw the targeted areas of the Bel-Air and Solino districts cordoned off before the operations.
Locals were informed of the operations and gangsters who attempted to resist fled through the narrow streets.
During the operation, 3 Haitian police officers were slightly injured and are still receiving treatment in a medical facility.
Otunge and his Haitian counterpart warned the gang members that the operation was just the beginning and that they would see more unless they laid down their arms, surrendered to the government and agreed to face justice for the atrocities they had committed.
The two claimed that subsequent security operations would be sustained and that the Haitian government would use all its resources to support the joint operations.
Locals welcomed the operations and expressed optimism that if such operations are sustained, the gangs will have no place to hide but to surrender to the government.
“They called on the MSSM to continue spearheading the operations with the strong support of the HNP,” the statement added.
The operation comes a day after the US government delivered some 34 Overhead Gunner Protection Kits, or ‘turrets’, to help the Kenyan officers in their operations against the gangs.
The Kenyan officers were deployed to the UN-backed mission on 25 June. Apart from Kenya, other countries that have pledged to send officers to Haiti include Benin, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Algeria, Canada and France.
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