A Kenyan police officer is missing in Haiti after a confrontation with criminal gangs.
The Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti said Wednesday the officer went missing on Tuesday March 25 in the evening.
Local media reported that the officer was killed, and videos shared on social media showed the body of a soldier lying on the floor in a bloody uniform.
A statement said the incident happened after a vehicle the team was using got stuck in a ditch while on patrol in Port-au-Prince’s Pont-Sonde Area.
“As a result of the incident, one MSS Kenyan contingent officer remains unaccounted for. Specialized teams have been deployed to conduct a search and determine his whereabouts,” a statement said.
The statement explained a Haitian National Police (HNP) armored vehicle on patrol along the Carrefour Paye-Savien Main Supply Route in the Pont-Sonde area, Artibonite Department, got stuck in a ditch—suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs.
In response, two MSS Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles from Pont-Sonde were dispatched to assist in the recovery.
Unfortunately, during the recovery operation, one of the MRAPs also got stuck, while the other developed a mechanical issue, the statement said.
As the rescue teams attempted to resolve the situation, suspected gang members lying in wait launched an attack.
It was then that the team fought off and when the guns had gone silent, one officer was found missing, officials said.
Other sources said he was shot and killed.
It is believed a number of the criminal gangs were injured, some fatally.
The incident comes a week after another senior Kenyan police officer was shot in the head as he was on an operation in the same area.
He is in critical condition in the hospital, officials said after the March 18 incident.
On February 23, Constable Samuel Tompoi Kaetuai was shot and killed in the same area while in an operation.
The team on the ground has vowed to continue fighting the gangs.
Kenya has deployed at least 800 police officers under MSS mission to Haiti to help in combating gangs.
The current mission is expected to have a total of 2,500 personnel, with the Bahamas, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad also pledging to send police and soldiers
Reports say Haiti is sinking deeper into crisis as gangs tighten their stranglehold on the country, now controlling more than 85 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Haiti has a long and fraught history of prolonged foreign interventions that have failed to secure lasting political stability, and the current crisis is no exception.
In a bid to restore order to the increasingly insecure state, the U.S. and Kenya entered into a defense agreement in 2023 to deploy Kenyan troops to Port-au-Prince.
But since their delayed arrival to the capital in June 2024, the Kenyan troops’ haven’t made meaningful progress in curbing gang violence.
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