Kenyan officer killed in Haiti after gang ambush, as Rubio visits Caribbean to discuss Haitian security crisis

By Michael Rios, CNN

(CNN) — A member of the international force battling gangs in Haiti has been killed, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio launches a tour of the Caribbean with Haiti’s security crisis high on the agenda.

The Kenyan police officer was initially reported missing after suspected gang members ambushed two mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles on Tuesday in Pont-Sondé, a town in the Artibonite region, according to a statement by the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS).

Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council later confirmed the officer had died, identifying him as Bénédict Kabiru.

“This valiant police officer, engaged alongside Haitian forces to fight insecurity, made the ultimate sacrifice for a better future for our country. His bravery and commitment will never be forgotten,” the council said.

Forces from the MSS and the Haitian National Police earlier carried out a search and rescue operation to locate the officer, Kenya’s National Police Service said.

The ambushed vehicles had been dispatched to recover an armored police vehicle that got stuck in a ditch – which MSS said may have been deliberately dug by gangs. During the recovery operation, one of the MRAP vehicles also got stuck and the other developed mechanical issues. As officers attempted to fix the issue, they were suddenly attacked by gang members, the MSS said in a statement.

After the attack, videos were shared online purporting to show the officer’s body lying on the ground. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the footage, and has reached out to MSS for more information.

His death marks the latest Kenyan casualty since the security mission arrived in June. Last month, another Kenyan member of MSS was fatally wounded in an operation also in the Artibonite region, MSS said.

The US has been a key financial supporter of MSS, and the security crisis in Haiti is a focus of Secretary Rubio’s visit to the Caribbean this week.

On Wednesday, Rubio is scheduled to meet with the president of Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council Fritz Jean in Jamaica. The Haitian government said the meeting is meant to strengthen regional cooperation related to its challenges.

Over 80% of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince has been estimated to be under gang control. Since the MSS arrived, gangs have spread increasingly into rural areas, seizing swathes of territory in the agriculturally critical Artibonite region.

In October, the United Nations said least 70 people, including women and children, were massacred by the Gran Grif gang in the same Artibonite town where the officer was killed on Tuesday.

Violence in Port-au-Prince has led to record levels of displacement, exacerbating humanitarian conditions, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during a press briefing on Wednesday. Nearly 23,000 people were displaced in just one week in March, he said.

The crisis has also cut into vital supply lines across the country. “Beyond the worrying situation in the capital, almost half of the entire population – that’s 5.5 million human beings – is going hungry, one of the highest proportions in any crisis around the world,” Dujarric said.

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CNN’s Mounira Elsamra contributed to this report.