A Kenyan police officer in Haiti was shot and wounded in a confrontation with gangs in Port-au-Prince.
Officials said the team forming part of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission was on July 30 on patrol along the National Hospital-APN Sea Port road when they noticed a lorry that was being attacked and looted by suspected gangsters.
Head of the mission Godfrey Otunge said the team noticed that the gang had shot dead the driver as they looted the track that was loaded with bags of rice.
“The patrol team immediately engaged the gangs after they started shooting at them.”“One Kenyan contingent sustained a gunshot injury on the shoulder in the process and was evacuated to Life Support Area (LSA) Hospital for management,” Otunge said.
He said the officer sustained an injury to the left acromioclavicular joint with soft tissue injuries.
“The officer is upbeat and is in stable condition, awaiting further medical attention.”
Otunge said the gangs escaped with serious, life-threatening injuries, disappearing into the tall buildings they were shooting from.
This came a day after the team and their local ones engaged gangs in a gun drama as Prime Minister Garry Conille visited a hospital on Monday, July 29 in Port-au-Prince. The incident happened Monday, July 29 as the PM with the Director General of Haitian National Police Normil Rameau and Otunge visited the General Hospital premises for assessment, officials said.
Both Otunge and Rameau said no injury was reported in the Monday drama but there were gunshots fired by both the security and gangs in and around the hospital.
“Later the HNP and the MSS contingent followed up where the shots had been fired from the neighbourhood and pacified the area.”
“The hospital is still under the control of the HNP and the MSS contingent. No fatalities or injuries from HNP and MSS were recorded during the successful event,” the police commanders said in a joint statement.
They said they had visited the hospital and the PM was accompanied by CNN for coverage where towards the end of his interview, two shots were heard from the nearby neighbourhood.
They added after the PM had successfully completed the interview, he left the hospital with his security detail but while at one of the corners of the hospital, some security officers fired some shots to provide cover for the PM's exit.
“The PM together with his team left the hospital safely and was escorted back to his office.”
They added following the incident, the DG had initiated investigations to establish the cause. Officials say the gangs have become increasingly confrontational after realising the troops are slowly gaining areas they have been controlling.
Kenyan police are in Haiti to help the local officials stabilise gangs that had almost overrun the capital. This is the latest drama to be recorded in the area as the officials fight to take control of various premises from the gangs.
The officials have so far taken control of the main port in Port-au-Prince, a major highway and the hospital. Conille had on July 17 declared a state of emergency in 14 gang-controlled municipalities.
At the port, the gangs prevented food, medical and other supplies, including humanitarian aid, from entering the troubled Caribbean nation.
The port was one of the remaining entry points into Haiti used by the United Nations to deliver humanitarian aid to the people, most of whom are unable to fend for themselves.
A similar gun clash had two weeks ago happened as they travelled from Toussaint Louverture International Airport to the Autorite Portuaire Nationale port.
The team is supposed to among others man the port, the main airport, the presidential palace, the main hospitals and the main highways.
The hospital had been closed since March when gangs took control of the area.
Otunge said MSS in partnership with HNP continues to conduct their daily operations in efforts to stabilise Haiti while striving to reclaim critical facilities currently under the gangs.
The Kenyan team has been receiving delegations from various foreign countries as part of their support.
They have also trained the local police officers on various combat operations.
Apart from Kenya, other countries that pledged to send officers to Haiti include Benin, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Algeria, Canada and France.