Prime Minister Garry Conil announced Wednesday that Haitian security forces, in cooperation with police sent from Kenya, have launched a joint operation to dislodge criminal gangs from one of the most troubled neighborhoods in the Haitian capital.
Conil spoke at a hospital in Port-au-Prince, where three Haitian police officers are recovering after being wounded in a shootout Tuesday during a joint operation in the impoverished gang-controlled Bel Air neighborhood.
“I am tired of seeing police officers being shot. I am tired of going to police funerals. We need to solve this problem of insecurity,” Konil said.
The prime minister did not elaborate on the operation or answer questions during his brief news conference, but urged Haitians to cooperate with police and share information to reduce crime.
More than 3,200 murders were recorded in Haiti from January to May. Gangs, which control 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have left more than half a million people homeless in recent years as they fight to control more territory.
“It won’t be quick,” Conil said. “We have to be patient.”
Hours earlier, the police union reported that a police officer died on his way to work on Wednesday and that more than ten bullet holes were found in his windshield. Michel Nathaniel Mejín is one of nearly two dozen officers killed so far this year.
A UN-backed mission led by Kenya has sent nearly 400 police officers to Haiti to help curb gang violence. Police and soldiers from countries including Benin, Chad and Jamaica are expected to arrive in the Caribbean country in the coming months, bringing the total to 2,500 foreign troops.
