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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 24367, member: 2262"] Haiti's Anti-Gang Mission Expands with Salvadoran Support. El Salvador sent 70 soldiers with medical equipment to Haiti on February 4 to join international forces fighting criminal gangs. The troops arrived in Port-au-Prince and met local police chief Rameau Nomil and MSS force commander Godfrey Otunge. The Salvadoran team brings specialized air support capabilities for medical evacuations. Their helicopters will arrive by week's end, strengthening the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS). Forces from Kenya, Guatemala, Jamaica, Belize, and the Bahamas already operate in Haiti. Violence escalated despite the UN-backed security mission. Armed gangs attacked an elite neighborhood on February 3, killing at least 40 people. Police requested urgent assistance to counter the assault. The government declared a state of emergency across Haiti as gangs control large parts of the capital. French President Emmanuel Macron urged the United Nations to consider sending peacekeepers after meeting with Leslie Voltaire, head of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council, in Paris. Kenya deployed 600 police officers as part of a planned 2,500-strong international force. Security experts consider even this number inadequate. They warn that without constant police presence, gangs could quickly reclaim any areas cleared by security forces. Haiti faces severe challenges. Armed groups seized record territory in Port-au-Prince last year. The violence forced tens of thousands from their homes. UN reports show gang-related deaths reached 5,600 in 2023, with over 1 million Haitians displaced. Decades of instability, authoritarian rule, and natural disasters left Haiti the poorest nation in America. The presence of foreign forces and a U.S.-backed transition government has not prevented gangs from expanding their control and conducting brutal attacks. Kenya pledged 1,000 police officers to lead the international mission, aiming to restore stability in the crisis-stricken Caribbean nation. [/QUOTE]

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