US military airlifts personnel from American embassy in violence-hit Haiti

The United States (US) military said on Sunday (Mar 10) that it carried out an operation in violence-hit Haiti to airlift non-essential American embassy personnel from the country.

In a statement, the military’s Southern Command said, “This airlift of personnel into and out of the embassy is consistent with our standard practice for embassy security augmentation worldwide, and no Haitians were on board the military aircraft.”

“Our embassy remains focussed on advancing US government efforts to support the Haitian people, including mobilising support for the Haitian National Police, expediting the deployment of the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, and accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections,” the statement added.

Blinken speaks with Kenyan president about crisis

The airlift comes as the US State Department said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto about the Haiti crisis on Saturday and the two leaders underscored their commitment to a multinational security mission to restore order.

“They underscored unwavering commitment to the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission to support the Haitian National Police in creating the security conditions necessary to conduct free and fair elections,” a statement from the State Department said.