Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Another group of police officers from Kenya are expected to leave for Haiti on Saturday after the authorities announced that the Caribbean country’s main domestic and international airports in Port-au-Prince are being re-opened.

The new team had been undergoing training and graduated last month ahead of the deployment in the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) aimed at restoring peace and stability in Haiti.

It comprises an all-female Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) who are part of 600 officers drawn from the General Service Unit (GSU), Anti Stock Theft Unit, and Rapid Deployment Unit.

Toussaint Louverture International Airport and the Guy Malary domestic airport were closed last month after Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines were struck by gang gunfire on November 11.

Aircraft diverted

During the incident, however, no passengers were hurt although a flight attendant on board Spirit Airlines Flight 951 out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport sustained minor injuries after the aircraft was riddled with bullets as it prepared to land.

The incident forced several aircraft to Haiti to be diverted and led Haitian authorities to shut down the capital’s airports for the second time this year because of gang attacks.

It also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a 30-day prohibition banning US-licensed airlines, including cargo carriers, from flying into Port-au-Prince.

FAA’s ban to expire

Similar bans from Canadian, French and British authorities are also set to expire between Saturday and Sunday. The ban affected plans by Kenya to send more police officers to Haiti as earlier planned.

Haiti’s escalating violence has left 5,000 dead this year, the United Nations said this week, and the situation remains volatile. On Monday afternoon, a passenger minibus travelling on a national road toward the capital was attacked by gunmen, killing several people and injuring others.

Kenya has already deployed the first batch of about 400 police officers in Haiti.

Officials said they had realised there is a need for female police officers to be deployed in the Caribbean nation in efforts to stabilise it from criminal gangs and also help in handling female suspects and other gender-related cases.

Officials also said the Hugo Chávez International Airport in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, which was exempted from the FAA’s ban, remains operational but travelling from the city to other parts of Haiti has been almost impossible this week.

Dangerous mudslides

Torrential rain over several days has also grounded private helicopters charging $2,500 a seat, and dangerous mudslides and floods have blocked routes along two main highways.

The United Nations estimates the gangs control 85 per cent of the capital and have spread into surrounding areas.

The multinational force was supposed to have 2,500 international police but so far only around 430 are deployed, with Kenya having 400 officers and the rest from the Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica.

Reports also indicate that the UN trust fund that finances the multinational force and relies on voluntary contributions remains critically under-resourced. It has only received $85.3 million of the $96.8 million that was pledged.