Chad will deploy 750 members of the security forces to take part in a UN-backed security mission in Haiti, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Haiti has long suffered at the hands of criminal gangs.

In 2023, the United Nations approved a multinational security mission to help Haitian police respond to the gangs, but the deployment had mixed results.

Last year, the UN Security Council approved transforming the mission into a more robust anti-gang force.

Soldiers to leave for Haiti in end of March

"Seven hundred and fifty soldiers under the cover of the police and gendarmerie, will join the gang suppression force at the request of the United Nations," a Chadian officer said on condition of anonymity. The Chadian foreign ministry also confirmed the deployment.

"Chad is responding to a call from the United Nations, which is playing a supervisory and logistic support role" for the gang suppression force, the officer said.

"The departure of the first contingent is scheduled for the end of March, and their deployment will continue through June," the officer added.

The new force will be able to have a maximum of 5,500 uniformed personnel, including police officers and soldiers.

Deadly gang attacks

It replaces the Multinational Security Mission, made up mostly of Kenyan police.

The United Nations said on Tuesday that gang violence in Haiti and security operations targeting the gangs led to more than 5,500 deaths between March last year and mid-January.