US seeks UN authorisation for new ‘Gang Suppression Force’ to tackle escalating violence in Haiti

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States announced Thursday that it is seeking UN authorisation for a new “Gang Suppression Force” to help tackle the escalating violence in Haiti, where armed groups have expanded their brutal activities from the capital into the countryside.

Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea made the announcement at a UN Security Council meeting, but it was unclear how it would differ from the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support force now deployed in the violence-torn Caribbean nation trying to help police curb gang violence.

Shea thanked Kenya for answering Haiti’s call “at a critical moment” and leading a multinational force for more than a year, saying without it “the gangs would have been even more emboldened in their ambitions and brazen atrocities against civilians in Haiti.”

She said the US and Panama will be circulating a draft resolution to the Security Council to establish the Gang Suppression Force and create a UN Support Office to provide logistical support to it.

In February, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed opening an office that would provide drones, fuel, ground and air transportation and other non-lethal support to the Kenya-led mission.

Shea gave no indication of whether the United States would provide any military or police support to the new Gang Suppression Force, or whether Kenya and the other contributing countries – the Bahamas, El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala and Jamaica – would remain part of it.

One council diplomat said it had been informed that the Kenya-led force would be renamed and transformed into the Gang Suppression Force with a significant increase in size and UN logistical support. The diplomat was not authorized to speak publicly because discussions were private.

The first Kenyans arrived in Haiti in June 2024 and the force was supposed to have 2,500 troops but its current strength is below 1,000.

Shea urged Security Council members to support the “new path towards peace and security.” And she urged the international community “to come to the table and join the United States, Panama and others who have demonstrated their commitment to Haiti’s security, in meaningful burden sharing to help promote stability in Haiti.”

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