Gangs fled a Haitian town as Kenya force moved in. But only for a day

PORT-AU-PRINCE — A day after reinforcements to a United Nations-backed Multinational Security Support mission arrived in Haiti, several Kenyan police officers joined Haitian police on a patrol of downtown Port-au-Prince. During the visit, one of the new armored vehicles in the police convoy broke down and had to be towed.

Police also fired what appeared to be warning shots in the air, according to a Miami Herald journalist on the scene. When an armored convoy of Kenyan and Haitian police forces rolled into a rural hamlet east of Port-au-Prince amid an active gang attack last week, residents along a 14-mile stretch to the Dominican Republic border breathed sighs of relief.

At the arrival of the tan-colored mine-resistant vehicles in Ganthier, heavily armed members of the 400 Mawozo gang fled into the bushes, and fleeing residents began plotting their return from the town next door.