NAIROBI - A Kenyan court on Friday blocked the government from sending police officers to Haiti to lead a U.N.-approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle gang violence.

An opposition party in October challenged the government's decision to send 1,000 officers to address a deepening crisis in Haiti, where gangs have forced around 200,000 people to flee their homes.

High Court Judge Chacha Mwita said Kenya could only deploy officers abroad if a "reciprocal arrangement" was in place with the host government.

"Any further action or steps taken by any state organ or state officer in furtherance of such a decision, contravene the Constitution and the law and is therefore an unconstitutional, illegal and invalid," Mwita said.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Humphrey Malalo; Editing by Aaron Ross)