UN chief visits Haiti, where a new 'gang-suppression force' will be deployed

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. World UN chief visits Haiti, where a new 'gang-suppression force' will be deployed June 17, 20262:15 AM ET By The Associated Press UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres greets soldiers from Chad at a base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. Danica Coto/AP hide caption toggle caption Danica Coto/AP PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — U. Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti on Tuesday, where surging gang violence has left more than 1 in 10 people homeless.

New statistics released by the U. reveal that 2,300 people have been killed across Haiti so far this year, with another 100 kidnapped, while 1. 5 million have been displaced.

The Details

Among those abducted is James Boyard, cabinet director of the Defense Ministry, who was kidnapped last week in one of the few relatively safe areas of the capital. Sponsor Message World A new U. report shows gang control expanding across Haiti Guterres' one-day visit to Port-au-Prince comes after more than 30 people were killed, injured or missing last weekend in Cité Soleil, a seaside slum, according to Cooperative for Peace and Development, a local human rights organization.

His convoy sped past a neighborhood once fully controlled by gangs that left in their wake decimated car dealerships, abandoned homes and dozens of concrete buildings pockmarked with bullet holes. A colorful bus known as a tap-tap rumbled past, its windshield peppered with bullet holes. Graffiti scrawled on a crumbling concrete wall read: "Down with Viv Ansanm, long live the police.

" Viv Ansanm is a powerful gang federation that the U. government designated a foreign terrorist organization. It is estimated to control 70% of Port-au-Prince.

What Experts Say

Guterres traveled past dozens of Haitians who fled the clashes and now live in makeshift homes under large pieces of canvas strung up with frayed rope. They are among the more than 300,000 people displaced by gang violence across Port-au-Prince — a record. Among them are more than 18,000 people who fled the Cité Soleil slum in May, according to the U.

International Organization for Migration. "Haiti's displacement crisis is entering an even more alarming phase," Gregoire Goodstein, IOM chief of mission in Haiti, said in a recent statement. Sponsor Message Guterres's first stop was the headquarters of the new gang-suppression force, which the U.

Security Council approved in September. -backed mission led by Kenyan police that aimed to help Haiti's National Police fight gangs but remained underfunded and understaffed. So far, Jamaica, Chad, El Salvador and Guatemala have deployed troops that number less than 1,000 to form part of the growing force, which is due to start operations in the coming weeks.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.