SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept 26, (AP): The president of the Dominican Republic warned Wednesday that his administration would take "drastic measures” to protect the country if a UN-backed mission in neighboring Haiti targeting gang violence fails. Luis Abinader did not provide details of what action he might take during his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Gangs in Haiti control 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and they have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. More than 3,600 people have been reported killed during the first half of this year, a more than 70% increase compared with the same period last year. The violence also has left nearly 700,000 Haitians homeless in recent years and thousands have fled Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Abinader thanked Kenya, which is leading the mission in Haiti with nearly 400 police officers from the East African country recently joined by nearly two dozen police and soldiers from Jamaica and two senior military officers from Belize. Another 300 police from Kenya are expected to deploy within a month. The personnel, however, falls significantly short of the 2,500 pledged by various countries for the mission, which the US government warns is lacking resources as it considers a possible UN peacekeeping mission.

Abinader said the current mission needs to be fully established so that free and transparent elections can be held. Haiti has not held elections since 2016, and a transitional presidential council was ordered to do so by February 2026. "Practically one year from the holding of elections, the conditions are still not in place to do so,” Abinader said as he expressed concern over the future of the mission. "We cannot allow the effort made to date to fail. If that were to happen, Haiti’s collapse would be imminent.”

Earlier this year, gangs launched coordinated attacks targeting critical government infrastructure. They raided more than two dozen police stations, opened fire on the main international airport, forcing it to close for nearly three months, and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing roughly 4,000 inmates. The attacks led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the creation of a transitional presidential council.