Chad has announced it will deploy 1,500 troops to Haiti as part of a United Nations-backed multinational security mission aimed at helping Haitian authorities combat the powerful gangs that have plunged the Caribbean nation deeper into chaos. President Mahamat Idriss Déby said Chad would contribute two battalions of 750 personnel each, adding a significant new contingent to the force being assembled to support the Haitian National Police. Reuters reported that about 400 Chadian troops have already been deployed.
Déby said Chad’s decision was in line with its long record of participating in international coalitions and peacekeeping missions, including operations against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region. The deployment underscores growing concern among African and international partners over the scale of insecurity in Haiti, where armed groups have overwhelmed local security structures and expanded their grip far beyond the capital.
The mission Chad is joining is the Gang Suppression Force, a U.N.-backed security operation launched in 2026 as the successor to the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission. Reuters reported last month that the new force was created to gradually replace the earlier Kenya-led mission and is expected to grow to 5,500 personnel by October. The force’s mandate has also been broadened, with authority to support operations against gangs that have terrorised communities across the country.
Haiti has endured years of escalating gang violence, but the security situation has deteriorated sharply over the past year. Armed groups now control up to 90% of Port-au-Prince and have steadily pushed into other regions, cutting off roads, attacking towns and deepening the collapse of state authority. The violence has been marked by killings, kidnappings, rapes and looting, leaving ordinary Haitians trapped between armed groups and a fragile political transition.
The worsening violence has also fueled a major humanitarian crisis in the poorest country in the Americas. Reuters reported in January that more than 1.4 million Haitians had been internally displaced, while aid access remains difficult in many gang-controlled areas. A recent attack by the Gran Grif gang in Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite left at least 30 people dead and many others missing, underscoring the urgency facing both Haitian authorities and the international force being assembled to support them.
Chad’s contribution is therefore being seen as one of the most substantial reinforcements yet for the mission. Whether it will be enough to turn the tide against Haiti’s gangs remains uncertain, but it signals a fresh push by international partners to prevent the country’s collapse from deepening further.
