The United States and Canada sent armored vehicles and other supplies to Haiti on Sunday to help police battle a powerful gang amid a pending request from the Haitian government for the immediate deployment of foreign troops.

A statement from the US State Department said the equipment was purchased by the Haitian government, but it did not provide further details of the supplies being flown by military aircraft to the capital of Port-au-Prince.

A US Army Southern Command spokesman said he could not provide further details on the supplies being sent, although he added that it was a joint operation involving the US Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force.

“This equipment will assist (the Haitian National Police) in its fight against criminal actors fomenting violence and disrupting the flow of much-needed humanitarian aid, hampering efforts to halt the spread of cholera,” the Department of Health said. ‘State.

The equipment arrived more than a month after one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs surrounded a fuel terminal and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Demonstrators also blocked roads in major cities to protest a sharp rise in fuel prices after Henry announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

Since then, gas stations have closed, hospitals have reduced services, and banks and grocery stores have opened on a limited basis as fuel, water and other supplies dwindle across Haiti.

Owners of the fuel terminal announced on Saturday that gunmen attacked their facility for the second time and made off with more than 28,000 gallons of petroleum products after overpowering the facility’s surveillance and emergency personnel.

It was the second time this week that gunmen broke into the terminal, which stores more than 10 million gallons of gasoline and diesel and more than 800,000 gallons of jet fuel.

(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)