Kenyan police officer injured in Haiti security mission

A Kenyan police officer in the U.N.-backed Multinational Security Mission combating violent gangs in Haiti was on Tuesday injured during an operation in Kenscoff, southeast of the capital Port-au-Prince.

The unidentified officer was injured in the Belot area and evacuated to Aspen Hospital, where he is being treated “in stable condition,” the mission’s spokesperson Jack Ombaka said in a statement.

Less than a month ago, on February 23, a Kenyan officer in the mission died after gangs fatally shot him in the western Segur-Savien region during an operation in the town of Pont Sonde.

Samuel Tompoi Kaetuai was the first Kenyan to be killed during the mission, which began deploying last June. His body was brought home last Tuesday.

Kenya has so far sent about 800 troops to Haiti in the mission comprising more than 1,000 officers from other countries like Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador who are working alongside Haiti’s national police.

Last year, over 5,601 people were killed in gang-related violence in the Caribbean nation, 1,000 more than in 2023, according to U.N. figures.