Canadian Military Trains CARICOM Personnel To Overcome Crisis In Haiti

Riots and gang violence currently hit Haiti. (Between/Xinhua)

JAKARTA - About 70 Canadian military personnel have been dispatched to Jamaica to train the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) army before being deployed to Haiti to combat the violence of armed gangs that have broken out in recent weeks.

"Yesterday, about 70 members of the Canadian Armed Forces were deployed to Jamaica. At the request of the Jamaican government, they will provide training to military personnel from Caribbean Community countries (CARICOM) who will be deployed to Haiti as part of Kenya's Multinational Security Support mission and permitted by the United Nations," the Canadian armed forces said in a statement on Saturday.

In mid-March, several United States marine units were sent to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince to strengthen security at the US embassy there.

On February 29, gang violence erupted in downtown Port-au-Prince when Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry visited Kenya to come up with a deal on deploying foreign troops in Haiti to fight organized crime.

The gangs said their goal was to prevent the prime minister from returning to Haiti.

They took control of various parts of the capital and stormed Haiti's largest prison, releasing large numbers of inmates whose numbers could not be confirmed.

The Haitian government declared a state of emergency in its capital area.

The increasingly brutal violence also left PM Ariel Henry stranded for days in Puerto Rico after visiting Africa. His plane could not enter Port au-Prince because this city had been chaotic by criminal gangs.

In order to defuse the situation, Henry on March 11 said he would resign from office when the transitional presidential council was formed, while delivering calls to the world that Haiti needs peace and stability.