KENYA has deployed 217 more armed police officers to join Haiti’s multinational force which is aiming to stamp out the gang violence that has plagued the Caribbean nation, interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen said on Saturday.

This comes as Haitian journalists demand justice as they buried a second colleague killed by gangs.

Mr Murkomen said that the Kenyan police officers left for Haiti on Friday to join the United States sponsored force.

He said: “The Kenya-led mission has made tremendous progress in reducing gang violence, earning praise across the globe,” saying that Kenya’s “commitment to this historic mission is unwavering.” 

Kenya first sent troops to Haiti in June and the total deployment now exceeds 600.

Kenya’s President William Ruto has pledged to deploy 1,000 troops as part of the intervention in Haiti.

The United Nations reports that gang violence killed more than 5,600 across Haiti in 2024 and left about 700,000 Haitians homeless in recent years.

In addition, more than 2,200 people were reported injured and nearly 1,500 kidnapped, it said.

Meanwhile, journalists mourned Marckendy Natoux, one of their colleagues, on Saturday at a funeral in the capital Port au Prince.

Mr Natoux was killed on Christmas Eve in one of the worst attacks on the press seen in the country as he covered the reopening of Haiti’s General Hospital.

Jimmy Jean, who worked for the online news outlet Moun Afe Bon, was also killed during the attack. 

Mr Jean was buried last Thursday.

Johnson “Izo” Andre, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility. 

He said that he had not authorised the hospital’s reopening.

Robest Dimanche, spokesman for the Online Media Collective, a group that defends the rights of online journalists in Haiti, said: “This was a very dark day. We are asking the authorities to not let this crime go unpunished.”