Haiti's Request For US Help After Moise's Murder Is For Limited Number Of Troops -Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2021) The Haitian government's request for US assistance in protecting infrastructure after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise entails only a limited number of troops, Elections Minister Mathias Pierre told CNN.

Earlier media reports said that the government of Haiti had asked the US to send in troops to protect key infrastructure after the assassination. The US Defense Department refused to comment on Haiti's request for American troops and the State Department also refused to provide any comments to Sputnik.

Pierre told CNN that the request was for a limited number of around 500 troops, meant to help protect infrastructure, ports, airports and energy systems following the assassination, and that he anticipated the threat to be "potential mercenaries.

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According to Haiti's police, a group of 26 Colombians and two Americans shot President Moise in his home on Wednesday. The National Police said earlier on Friday that 17 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian descent suspected of participating in the assassination had been detained. In a later update, police said that another suspect, identified as Mendivelso Jaimes Gersain, a Colombian national, was also detained.