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Kenyan police officer goes missing in Haiti gang ambush

A Kenyan police officer leaves a building during a joint operation with Haitian police, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti July 29, 2024.Reuters

Wycliffe Muia

BBC News, Nairobi

A Kenyan police officer deployed in Haiti as part of the international security force has gone missing after an attack by suspected gang members.

The force was attacked by gangs as they were helping a vehicle from the Haitian national police that got stuck in a ditch, the mission said in a statement.

"As the rescue teams attempted to resolve the situation, suspected gang members lying in wait launched an attack," it added.

Following the attack, specialised teams have been deployed to conduct a search for the missing officer.

The incident happened on Tuesday during a patrol operation in Haiti's town of Pont-Sondé, the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission to Haiti said.

Haiti's local media reported that the officer could have been killed by the gangs but this is yet to be confirmed.

This is not the first attack on Kenyan officers in Haiti.

Last month, a 26-year-old police constable was fatally wounded during an operation in Ségur-Savien, marking the first casualty among the Kenyan contingent.

Samuel Tompoi Kaetuai's body was flown back and he was laid to rest this month.

Kenya has deployed at least 600 police officers under the MSS mission to Haiti to help in combating gangs.

The force was sent to Haiti starting June last year to help restore order to the country, where gangs have seized control of almost the entire capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as large swathes of rural areas.

More than 5,500 people were killed in gang-related violence in Haiti in 2024 and more than a million people have fled their homes.