A Kenyan police officer sent to Haiti to help rein in violent gangs was fatally shot in a fight with one of the gangs, Kenyan authorities said Sunday.

The shooting happened in the western Artibonite region, where Kenyan police sent to neutralise Haitian gangs were conducting an operation this past week. The Kenyan mission said in a statement that officers responded to a plea for help from residents in an area known as Pont-Sonde.

The police officer was airlifted out of the area and died from his injuries, Godfrey Otunge, the commander of the Kenyan forces in Haiti, said in a statement.

After his shooting, officers pursued the gangsters. Mission official Jack Ombaka thanked hospital staff and Salvadoran forces also battling the gangs for their help following the shooting.

“This is the price our courageous officer paid – he was killed while fighting for the people of Haiti,” said Ombaka in a statement. “We salute our fallen hero.”

Kenya has sent hundreds of officers to help weak Haitian law enforcement. In February, 200 more police officers from the East African country joined more than 600 other Kenyans already working alongside Haiti’s National Police as part of a multinational force boosted by soldiers and police deployed by countries including Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador.

• An AP report