The first foreign troops tied to a new gang-suppression force backed by the United Nations has arrived in Haiti to help quell ongoing violence, according to a statement issued Wednesday.
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A team from the central African country of Chad are in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, as is Jack Christofides, the force’s special representative, who was deployed at the request of the Haitian government, according to an official statement posted on the new force's X account.
The GSF did not say how many people were in the advance team, nor if Kenyan forces already on the ground would begin to withdraw as previously reported.
Neither the GSF nor Haiti's national police immediately responded to requests for comment.
Christofides was tasked to work with the GSF's Force Commander Godfrey Otunge to develop a strategic plan, oversee accountability, coordinate with donors and partners and keep the UN Security Council abreast of developments.
The force was initially approved to help Haitian security forces fight off powerful gangs, armed with weapons believed to be largely trafficked from the US. The first contingents of the Kenyan-led force did not deploy until the following June.
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As of early this year, less than 1,000 troops – mostly Kenyan with smaller numbers of Central American and Caribbean personnel – were in Haiti.
This was under 40 percent of the force's initial goal and less than 20 percent of the larger target of some 5,500 troops approved last year.
The UN has said the GSF should begin deploying from April and reach full numbers by summer, or fall at latest. The GSF's mandate is due to expire at the end of September 2026, though the UN Security Council may renew it for another year.
Chad has pledged 800 troops, but it is unclear which other countries might contribute personnel.
Since the first Kenyan contingents arrived in 2024 under the prior model known as the MSS, more than 800,000 more people have fled their homes as gangs cement their grip on the capital and expand to other regions in the Caribbean's most populous nation.
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Some 12 percent of the population is now internally displaced, over 1.4 million people.
The MSS – which was also reliant on voluntary contributions – suffered from chronic underfunding, as well as lack of troops and reliable equipment.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP)
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