Haiti sends troops to Mexico for training as gang violence rages on
The troops departed Port-au-Prince on Thursday and will spend the next three months on a training course in Mexico.
A total of 700 Haitian soldiers will ultimately take part in the program.
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said the initiative is part of a broader roadmap focused on restoring security, revitalizing public institutions and setting up elections.
'It illustrates the government's firm determination to restore republican order, reinstate state authority throughout the country, and ensure the protection of every citizen,' a statement from the government read.
Mexico's security forces have had extensive experience battling criminal groups, particularly international drug cartels, though those efforts have failed to significantly reduce violence and homicide rates remain at near record levels.
CNN has reached out to Mexico's government for more information on how it would train Haitian troops.
In Haiti, gang attacks have left thousands dead and wounded in recent years. Over 80% of the capital city Port-au-Prince has been estimated to be under gang control, and nearly 1.3 million people nationwide are internally displaced because of the violence, the UN says.
Haiti has repeatedly sought international help to restore security, to little effect.
Last year, it welcomed hundreds of Kenyan police officers from a multinational security support mission (MSS) funded largely by the United States. At least two of the Kenyan officers have been killed and the violence has not abated.
Since the MSS arrived, gangs have spread increasingly into rural areas, seizing swathes of territory in the agriculturally critical Artibonite region. Last week, armed attacks in the area uprooted an additional 15,000 people, the UN says.
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