More Kenyan police officers could leave for Haiti anytime from December 14 after authorities announced they are reopening the country’s main international and domestic airports in Port-au-Prince.
Toussaint Louverture International Airport and the Guy Malary domestic airport were both closed last month after Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines were struck by gang gunfire on Nov. 11. No passengers were hurt during the incidents, although a flight attendant on board Spirit Airlines Flight 951 out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport did sustain minor injuries after the aircraft was riddled with bullets as it prepared to land.
The incident forced several aircraft en route to Haiti to be diverted, and led Haitian authorities to shut down the capital’s airports for the second time this year because of gang attacks.
It also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a 30-day prohibition banning U.S. licensed airlines, including cargo carriers, from flying into Port-au-Prince.
The FAA’s ban, set to expire on Thursday, remains in effect, a spokesperson said. Similar bans from Canadian, French and British authorities are also set to expire between Saturday and Sunday.
It also affected plans by Kenya to send more police officers to Haiti as earlier planned.
It also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a 30-day prohibition banning U.S. licensed airlines, including cargo carriers, from flying into Port-au-Prince.
Officials said the reopening now allows them to send the officers to supplement those already on the ground.
They could leave anytime from December 14.
The country’s escalating violence has left 5,000 dead so far this year, the United Nations said this week, and the situation remains volatile. On Monday afternoon, a passenger minibus traveling on a national road toward the capital was shot up, killing several people and injuring others.
The Kenyan team to be sent to Haiti had graduated in November in readiness for the mission.
The team includes all female Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) who are part of 600 officers drawn from General Service Unit (GSU), Anti Stock Theft Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit.
They have been ready for deployment in the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) aimed at restoring peace and stability in Haiti.
Kenya has already deployed the first batch of about 400 police fficers in Haiti.
Officials said they had realized there is need for female police officers to be deployed the Caribbean nation in efforts to stabilize it from criminal gangs.
They will help in handling female suspects and other gender related cases.
The country’s escalating violence has left 5,000 dead so far this year, the United Nations said this week, and the situation remains volatile.
On Monday December 9 afternoon, a passenger minibus traveling on a national road toward the capital was shot up, killing several people and injuring others.
The ban on flights and the airport closures have left Haitians stranded in and out of the country.
The Hugo Chávez International Airport in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, which was exempted from the FAA’s ban, remains operational but traveling from the city to other parts of Haiti has been almost impossible this week.
Torrential rain over several days has grounded private helicopters charging $2,500 a seat, and dangerous mudslides and floods have blocked routes along two main highways.
The U.N. estimates the gangs control 85 percent of the capital and have spread into surrounding areas.
The multinational force was supposed to have 2,500 international police but only around 430 are deployed — some 400 from Kenya and the rest from the Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica.
U.N. trust fund that finances the multinational force and relies on voluntary contributions, “remains critically under-resourced.”
U.N. trust fund that finances the multinational force and relies on voluntary contributions has received $85.3 million of the $96.8 million pledged.
The U.S. agreed to contribute $300 million to the force, but that total is still far below the $600 million cost to deploy a 2,500-strong force for a year.
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