Arrival of US armored vehicles boost to Haiti anti gang effort

Arrival of US armored vehicles boost to Haiti anti-gang effort residents in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital which has been terrorized by heavily armed gangs in the past three years, can perhaps regard recent assurances by the head of the Kenyan security force in the country as good news as he pledged that his contingent will not let up until violent gangsters are wiped or driven out of areas.

Commander Godfrey Otunge might have been reacting to political panic buttons pressed recently by Prime Minister Garry Conille and his interim administration had bemoaned what he had regarded as a deteriorating security situation that had been undermining governance in the Caribbean Community nation.

Conille had publicly complained that the Kenyans had lacked any discernible impact on gang control of large parts of the city as had been the case since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. He had called on the international community to devote greater financial resources and military equipment to Haiti as the Kenyans and the national police were struggling to bring things under control. But Commander Otunge says the balance of power will begin to change in the coming weeks as equipment from the international community arrives for the United Nations-approved peacekeeping force.

As evidence of a possible change in the balance of military power, Commander Otunge said a statement this week that the recent arrival of close to 20 armored military vehicles from the US will give forces on the ground the kind of firepower to match the heavily armed gangsters. He announced that some of the fortified vehicles were used in a recent operation in three slum areas – Delmas, Bel-Air, Solino. Things are about to change, he said.

“Our commitment to decisively deal with the gangs in Haiti has just begun. The security mission and Haitian National Police are conducting clearance operations in Delmas, Bel-Air, Solino, and their environs to weed out gangs and return normalcy in these zones. We thank the US government for its continued support by heeding our call for additional equipment. MSS has received additional vehicles and equipment over the last one week, leading to more sustained joint operations between HNP and MSS personnel. I wish to reiterate that operations to counter and clear gang activities across Haiti are taking shape while noting that it will be a process and a journey that needs all of us to walk together,” said Commander Otunge in a statement of assurance to Haitians. The full scale offensive will continue.

The commander said that “the pacification operations will be conducted by sea, land and air, the security operations being conducted road to road, street to street and house to house, leaving no room for the gangs to operate. It is therefore incumbent upon the gangs to put down their weapons and surrender to the government to face the rule of law. Our officers remain committed to their mandate and are professionally adhering to the International human rights law as outlined under the human rights due diligence policy. This is to ensure and guarantee that civilian security remains our number one priority,” he said.
Meanwhile, facilities to accommodate up to 2000 such personnel from a dozen countries are still being constructed near the main international airport which had been effectively shut down by gangs until recently, triggering cancellations by most carriers which service Haiti. To improve security there, authorities are currently demolishing about 80 buildings overlooking the aerodrome to make it safer for international flights and the international force when it is fully subscribed to.

Apart from working with the international community to improve security, the interim administration is also mandated to prepare for fresh general elections and a new government by February 2026. PM Conille says this deadline remains in trouble unless the security situation is improved drastically.