N'DJAMENA — Chad will deploy 1,500 troops to Haiti this month for a one-year United Nations security mission to combat gang violence, President Mahamat Déby Itno announced on Monday. The deployment, requested by the United Nations, will consist of two battalions of 750 troops each. The announcement was made in a letter from the president read to Chad's legislature on Monday.

"A contingent of 400 men has already been sent to Haiti as part of this mission that honors Chad and its defense and security forces," Déby Itno said. The full 1,500-troop contingent will serve for one year as part of the expanded international effort to restore order in Haiti.

The U.N. Security Council approved an expansion of the Kenya-led multinational force in Haiti to 5,500 troops, now called the Gang Suppression Force. The Security Council also expanded the force's powers to include arresting suspected gang members, an authority the previous force did not have.

The previous mission, launched in 2023 and led by the Kenyan police, was envisioned to include 2,500 personnel but was limited by a lack of staff and funds. Chad's deployment is part of the effort to bring the expanded force closer to its authorized strength of 5,500 troops.

Gangs control as much as 90% of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, as well as swaths of land in the country's central region. Last month, the Gran Grif gang launched a renewed attack on the town of Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite in central Haiti.

In 2021, a squad of gunmen assassinated former President Jovenel Moïse in his home. The security situation has remained unstable in the years since, with gangs expanding their territorial control across Port-au-Prince and central Haiti.