NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya has deployed 217 more police officers to Haiti as part of a multinational force to curb gang violence plaguing the Caribbean nation, Kenya's interior minister said on Saturday. According to the minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, the police officers departed from Kenya on Friday.

Kenya sent more than 200 police officers to Haiti on Saturday, providing backup to an understaffed security mission in the Caribbean country where rampant gang violence has displaced more than a million people.

There are still significant challenges with the funding that were already there with the Biden administration.”

Kenya said Saturday it was sending another 217 police officers to Haiti to bolster a multinational force seeking to restore order to the violence-ridden Caribbean island. "The 217 officers will reinforce the first batch of 400 officers who were deployed last year to the Caribbean nation to restore peace,

A new contingent of 217 additional Kenya police Kenya arrived in Port-au-Prince on Saturday aboard a chartered airplane escorted by the U.S. military. This came after months of uncertainty about whether President William Ruto would continue to field cops for the struggling mission in Haiti,

The 217 officers will reinforce the first batch of 400 officers who were deployed last year to the Caribbean nation to restore peace. Gang violence killed at least 5,601 people in Haiti in 2024

Kenya deployed over 200 police officers to Haiti to strengthen the anti-gang mission amid escalating violence. With over a million displaced, the U.N.-backed initiative has seen pledges from 10 countries but minimal action.

Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State position Marco Rubio from Florida, praised various troops on a mission in Haiti, including Kenyan forces under the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS),