Chad will deploy 1,500 troops to Haiti to help combat gang violence

N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) - Chad will deploy 1,500 troops to Haiti as part of the United Nations security force to the Caribbean country to combat gang violence, according to a letter from the president to the legislature.

In the letter read out to lawmakers of the Central African country on Monday, Chadian President Mahamat Déby Itno said two battalions of 750 troops each will be deployed from this month for one year, following a request by the United Nations.

"A contingent of 400 men has already been sent to Haiti as part of this mission that honors Chad and its defense and security forces," the president said.

Last year, the U.N. Security Council approved the expansion of the Kenya-led multinational force in Haiti to 5,500 troops, called the Gang Suppression Force, and expanded its power to include arresting suspected gang members, which the previous force did not have.

The previous mission, launched in 2023, was envisioned to include 2,500 personnel and was led by the Kenyan police, but it was handicapped by a lack of staff and funds.

Deadly gangs control as much as 90% of Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, and swaths of land in the country's central region. In 2021, a squad of gunmen assassinated the country's former president, Jovenel Moïse, in his home.

At least 30 people were killed and dozens more were missing, human rights groups said, after the Gran Grif gang launched a renewed attack on the town of Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, in central Haiti, last month.