A new contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti on Thursday to bolster a UN-backed security mission, AFP journalists observed, as the United States reiterated its support but called for a "new direction.

More than 600 Kenyan officers had already been stationed in Haiti as part of a multinational force of police officers and soldiers from other countries — including Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador — who assist Haiti’s police in fighting the violent gangs in control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Latest deployment raises total number of Kenyan personnel in Haiti to 800, moving closer to target of 1,000 officers under UN-backed mission - Anadolu Ajansı

The United States is committed to working with the Kenya-led multinational security support mission in Haiti, but its numbers need increase to restore peace and stability to the country, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday.

A Kenyan police officer adjusts the helmet of a colleague after arriving as part of a peace-keeping mission to tackle violence in Haiti, at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince,

As he visits the Dominican Republic on the final stop of his five-day overseas mission to the region, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sending strong assurances that the Trump administration is not shutting down the United Nations-authorized and heavily U.