By Aaron Ross\Reuters
NAIROBI, May 9 (Reuters) – Civilian contractors have arrived in Haiti to build living quarters for a Kenyan-led international security force meant to counter gang violence in the Caribbean nation, the U.S. military’s Southern Command said.
The U.N. Security Council approved in October the creation of the Multinational Security Support mission to help Haitian police wrest back territory from alliances of gangs who control most of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Kenya pledged 1,000 officers to lead the force last July, but their deployment has been repeatedly delayed, first by court challenges and then by a surge of violence in Port-au-Prince that forced the Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign in March.
Kenyan President William Ruto told Reuters last week that the swearing-in of a transition council in Haiti on April 25 had addressed that concern and Kenya was discussing how to proceed.
U.S. military aircraft flew civilian contractors to Haiti from May 3 to May 5 to secure equipment and supplies arriving in the country, Southern Command said in a statement to Reuters. READ MORE…
