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US freezes funding for security mission tackling Haiti's gangs

Related Topics: United Nations

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than $13 million in U.S. funding for an international security force helping fight armed gangs in Haiti has been frozen under President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on foreign aid, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Powerful gangs, armed with weapons largely trafficked from the United States, have united in the Caribbean country's capital Port-au-Prince under a common alliance and now control most of the city and are expanding to nearby areas.

The Multinational Security Support mission, while approved by the U.N. Security Council, is not a United Nations operation and currently relies on voluntary contributions.