Haiti’s specialized Gang Suppression Force (GSF) carried out a targeted counter-gang operation on Wednesday in the northern vicinity of Port-au-Prince International Airport, seizing a cache of illegal weapons and ammunition as part of a broader nationwide campaign to wrest territorial control away from violent armed criminal syndicates. The multinational security task force confirmed that the operation zeroed in on zones that gangs have long exploited as hidden safe houses, pre-attack staging grounds, and critical supply stockpiles for their illicit activities. Officials emphasized that securing these strategic sites is a foundational step to bolstering safety for airport operations and adjacent residential neighborhoods, reestablishing unobstructed civilian movement across the area, and laying the groundwork for the voluntary, safe return of tens of thousands of Haitians displaced by years of escalating gang-related violence. The GSF has publicly reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to systematic, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, zone-by-zone security sweeps, even in the face of repeated targeted assaults against its deployed personnel. Just days prior to the Wednesday operation, the task force issued a direct public warning to Haiti’s dominant armed gangs, making clear that recent brazen acts of aggression — including a deadly ambush that left four Salvadoran peacekeeping soldiers missing — would not derail or delay the force from fulfilling its UN-mandated security mandate. The Dominican Republic’s government, which is not a formal contributing member of the multinational GSF coalition, released updated deployment figures this week noting that 2,181 security personnel are currently active on the ground in Haiti, with total force strength on track to hit 5,500 combined military and law enforcement officers within a 90-day window, in full alignment with the operational parameters set by the UN Security Council. Dominican Foreign Minister Víctor “Ito” Bisonó also disclosed that his administration has allocated $20 million in direct financial aid to back the GSF’s logistical and operational needs as the mission scales up. GSF leadership further outlined that securing the airport perimeter and other high-priority strategic infrastructure will remain its top immediate operational priority, as teams work to progressively expand security perimeters and restore unimpeded humanitarian and civilian access to communities that have been cut off by gang control for months.
GSF seizes weapons and ammunition in operation near Port-au-Prince airport
