UN security council approves new military force to fight Haiti gangs

Unit will have up to 5,500 soldiers and police officers who will tackle the violence that has overwhelmed the country

The United Nations has adopted a resolution to transform a security mission in gang-dominated Haiti into a larger, fully fledged force with military troops.

The new unit can now have a maximum of 5,500 uniformed personnel, including police officers and soldiers, unlike the current mission, which is just law enforcement. The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said the vote by 12 security council members to transform the multinational security support (MSS) mission to the new gang suppression force, a mission five times the size of its predecessor" showed the international community was sharing the burden".