People walk in a burnt market in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville yesterday. No one was injured in the fire, which started early in the morning. - reuters

UNITED NATIONS (CMC):

The United Nations (U.N.) says its Peacekeeping force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will increase security this week as public schools reopen their doors for the new school term.

The U.N. said in a statement that its forces plan to bolster security in capital Port-au-Prince in collaboration with Haiti's national police.

"The effort will involve joint U.N.-Haitian National Police patrols, vehicle searches and identity verification," the statement said.

Reaffirming its pledge to support Haitian authorities as they battle insecurity and impunity across the impoverished country, the mission also announced the details of telephone hotlines that citizens can use to report crimes.

Last week, the U.N. released a report in which former Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended the extension of MINUSTAH for an additional 12 months.

Annan said there are still "significant challenges" in that French-speaking Caribbean country.

"The government will continue to face significant challenges in the coming months," said Kofi Annan, who demitted office on January 1.

MINUSTAH currently employs over 6,600 military personnel and 1,700 police officers, as well as hundreds of civilian staff, a U.N. statement said.

The U.N. said armed gangs have been a "constant concern" of MINUSTAH since it was established by the Security Council to help to re-establish peace in Haiti after an insurgency forced elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile in February 2004.