U.N. CHIEF URGES SUPPORT TO FIGHT GANGS IN HAITI

The United Nations chief urged the international community on Tuesday to deploy a multinational force comprising “police special forces and military support units” to Haiti to combat gangs with sophisticated weapons and restore security to the Caribbean nation.

Secretary-General António Guterres said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council obtained by The Associated Press that “Addressing the security situation in Haiti requires a range of coercive law enforcement measures, including active use of force in targeted police operations against heavily armed gangs.”

The letter was a response to a Security Council resolution adopted on July 14 asking Guterres to come up with “a full range of options” within 30 days to help combat Haiti's armed gangs including a non-U.N. multinational force.

Guterres welcomed Kenya's offer to lead an international force as well as renewed pledges of support from the Bahamas and Jamaica, and the announcement by Antigua and Barbuda that it is considering contributing to the force. He urged more countries, especially from the Americas, to contribute and “build on this new momentum.”

Gangs have overpowered Haiti's police, with experts estimating they now control some 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. There are only about 10,000 police officers for the country's 11 million people, and more than 30 were killed from January to June, according to Human Rights Watch.

Guterres said the gangs have encircled the capital, effectively cutting roads from the north, south and east of the country.