Overview:
Nearly 150 Haitian soldiers returning from Mexico training arrived in Port-au-Prince Saturday, Sept. 20. After eight weeks at the Mexican army training center as part of the first group of 700, including special operations units, the troops aimed to join the effort to fight gangs as violence spreads beyond the capital and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, 25 soldiers are in Martinique for two weeks under the Haiti-France Sabre program, focusing on urban combat and operational skills, officials said.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti welcomed home 143 soldiers of the Armed Forces (FAd’H) Saturday, Sept. 20, after they completed eight weeks of intensive training in Mexico, part of a bilateral program aimed at bolstering the country’s capacity to fight armed gangs.
The group — 128 men and 15 women — was greeted at Toussaint Louverture International Airport by top officials, including Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and Defense Minister Jean Michel Moïse, along with Haitian high-ranking military and police officials and the Mexican Ambassador to Haiti.
During their training, the Haitian military officers focused on self-defense, firearms handling and human rights. They now return to active duty as Haiti faces relentless gang attacks that have spread from Port-au-Prince into provincial towns such as Mirebalais, Saut-d’Eau, La Chapelle, Liancourt, Kenscoff, Gros-Morne, and most recently, Arcahaie and Bassin-Bleu, where police stations and public buildings have been torched.
“This government’s sole objective is to strengthen our military capacity in terms of personnel, equipment, infrastructure, and technology to defend our homeland against enemies who seek to destroy our peaceful way of life,” Moïse said in a statement posted on X.
The soldiers’ return arrives as Haiti continues to suffer from rising violence. In Labodrie, Cabaret, more than 50 people were killed on Sept. 11. In the same week in Kenscoff, gangs ambushed police, killing one driver and wounding two officers. In Bassin-Bleu, in the northwest, at least one person was killed, 10 kidnapped, and several others injured as gangs attacked the city on Sept. 18, setting fire to homes, commercial banks, a local hospital and public offices—including the police station and town hall.
These attacks show how violence is no longer limited to the capital, where gangs already control more than 90% of Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas.
Local authorities say rural areas, once considered safe, are increasingly vulnerable. From the vast Artibonite Valley to Haiti’s northwest, gangs are targeting farming towns, cutting supply lines and displacing thousands. The Haitian government, backed by foreign partners, has promised reinforcements; however, the police and army remain outmatched in terms of manpower and resources.
A Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) was deployed last year to help fight the gangs. But the MSS backed by the United Nations has so far been slow and ineffective in strengthening efforts.
Despite months on the ground, MSS forces remain limited to perimeter security in Port-au-Prince and have not engaged in decisive operations to dismantle armed groups or secure major routes— suffering from poor coordination, inadequate resources and a narrow mandate.
Frustrated by the mission’s shortcomings, the United States and regional allies are aggressively pushing for its transformation or replacement with a Gang Suppression Force (GSF)—a more offensive unit focused explicitly on dismantling gangs and retaking territories. Discussions have intensified at the UN Security Council and within the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with growing recognition that without a sharper, more proactive approach, the security situation will continue to spiral—affecting neighbors in the region and globally.
Haiti’s military revival and international cooperation
As announced in late 2024, the 143 troops are the first cohort of a total of 700 soldiers slated for training under the Haiti-Mexico cooperation signed in October 2018. Like other countries in the region—including Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia—Mexico has hosted Haitian troops since 2019, when 50 non-commissioned officers were trained at the Military School for Sergeants. Since then, Haitian soldiers have completed courses in guerrilla tactics, drone operations and special forces training. Some members of this group — composed of doctors, agronomists and engineers — had also received training from the Mexican army.
In 2022, another group of 29 non-commissioned officers trained at the Special Forces Training Center to become instructors, while another company of 150 soldiers went to Mexico for advanced training in drone operations, guerrilla tactics, marksmanship and demolition. In 2023, 100 soldiers participated in special operations training with the Mexican Special Forces Corps..
After these initial training sessions, Mexico also pledged to train 200 additional Haitian soldiers to form a special unit on the Haitian-Dominican border, aimed at assisting police in fighting armed gangs, according to Enold Joseph, then Haiti’s Defense Minister.
“We discussed with our Mexican counterpart at the XV Conference of Ministers of Defense of the Americas [held in Brazil] and presented the challenges of Haiti to fight insecurity,” Joseph said in a video posted on the ministry’s Facebook on Sept. 2, 2022.
The program is part of Haiti’s effort to rebuild its army, disbanded in 1995 by then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after decades of coups and abuses. Revived in 2017 by slain President Jovenel Moïse, the FAd’H currently counts about 1,300 soldiers — a fraction of the 7,000 it once had — alongside 10,000 national police officers tasked with protecting nearly 12 million people.
“The army’s values reflect readiness through training, discipline, and commitment to completing the mission. A soldier never abandons a mission,” Defense Minister Moïse said.
In parallel, 25 Haitian soldiers began a two-week course in Martinique on Sept. 15 as part of the Haiti-France Sabre program. Training modules cover urban combat, combat rescue and weapons handling. French instructors have already trained dozens of Haitian soldiers since 2024, underscoring growing international involvement in Haiti’s security sector.
Still, observers warn that training alone will not turn the tide. Both the FAd’H and the PNH struggle with shortages of weapons, vehicles and protective equipment. For now, residents in provincial towns and the capital await signs that the new training will translate into real protection on the ground.