U.N.-backed Kenyan force arrives in Haiti

Mission is intended to combat country's rampant gang violence

Gang violence in Haiti

(THE WEEK) – Some 400 Kenyan police officers arrived in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to launch a long-awaited peacekeeping mission. The deployment is the first wave of an expected 2,500-person law enforcement effort sanctioned by the United Nations to combat gang violence roiling the Caribbean country.

The Kenyan police will "face violent gangs that control 80% of Haiti's capital and have left more than 580,000 people across the country homeless," The Associated Press said. The mission is the "fourth major foreign military intervention in Haiti" since 1915. Haiti's previous government requested the outside help 20 months ago.

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The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad and Jamaica said they will also contribute police or troops. The U.S. is providing most of the funding, logistics and supplies.

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