El Salvador Sends 200 Troops Into Haiti to Rescue 4 Hostages
(MENAFN) El Salvador has rushed special forces into Haiti to free four of its military technicians seized by armed gangs, and President Nayib Bukele brushed aside warnings about the risks of the mission on Friday, vowing victory.
Roughly 200 Salvadoran soldiers landed in Port-au-Prince on Thursday and Friday to join the search, according to media reports that cited security sources.
The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) confirmed that a Salvadoran contingent arrived Thursday to bolster ongoing search and security operations in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area outside the capital. The troops are operating alongside the Haitian National Police and other security partners, the force said, and it urged residents of Santo and neighboring communities to stay clear of zones where operations are underway.
The four Salvadoran aviation technicians disappeared Sunday after gunmen ambushed their armored vehicle in Santo, in the Croix-des-Bouquets commune near Port-au-Prince. The attackers opened fire and used explosives, setting the vehicle ablaze. The technicians escaped the burning vehicle, but nothing has been heard from them since.
Haitian authorities have confirmed the men were abducted. Their condition and whereabouts remain unknown, and no gang has publicly claimed responsibility.
Bukele announced a military rescue operation Wednesday. He demanded the four men be returned alive and unharmed and threatened a more forceful response if they were hurt. He said the missing men were noncombatant aviation technicians whose main duties involved medical evacuations.
The warning drew a defiant reply from Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo San Jou, leader of the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, which operates in the area and belongs to the Viv Ansanm gang coalition. In a video circulated on social media, Joseph displayed large quantities of ammunition and challenged Bukele, saying he would not flee and was ready to fight Salvadoran forces.
On Friday, Bukele rejected warnings that Haiti’s heavily armed gangs pose a tougher challenge than the criminal groups his government has fought at home.
“But when God grants us victory, those who say all these things today will change their tune,” Bukele wrote on US social media platform X.
He also branded the Haitian gangs “satanic” and accused them of carrying out human sacrifices, offering no evidence for the claim.
The deployment comes as clashes escalate between armed gangs and the international security force, which the UN Security Council authorized to help Haitian police restore order. Haiti has endured years of worsening gang violence, with armed groups controlling large parts of Port-au-Prince and pushing into surrounding regions. UN estimates put the number of people displaced by the violence at nearly 1.5 million, deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
Roughly 200 Salvadoran soldiers landed in Port-au-Prince on Thursday and Friday to join the search, according to media reports that cited security sources.
The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) confirmed that a Salvadoran contingent arrived Thursday to bolster ongoing search and security operations in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area outside the capital. The troops are operating alongside the Haitian National Police and other security partners, the force said, and it urged residents of Santo and neighboring communities to stay clear of zones where operations are underway.
The four Salvadoran aviation technicians disappeared Sunday after gunmen ambushed their armored vehicle in Santo, in the Croix-des-Bouquets commune near Port-au-Prince. The attackers opened fire and used explosives, setting the vehicle ablaze. The technicians escaped the burning vehicle, but nothing has been heard from them since.
Haitian authorities have confirmed the men were abducted. Their condition and whereabouts remain unknown, and no gang has publicly claimed responsibility.
Bukele announced a military rescue operation Wednesday. He demanded the four men be returned alive and unharmed and threatened a more forceful response if they were hurt. He said the missing men were noncombatant aviation technicians whose main duties involved medical evacuations.
The warning drew a defiant reply from Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo San Jou, leader of the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, which operates in the area and belongs to the Viv Ansanm gang coalition. In a video circulated on social media, Joseph displayed large quantities of ammunition and challenged Bukele, saying he would not flee and was ready to fight Salvadoran forces.
On Friday, Bukele rejected warnings that Haiti’s heavily armed gangs pose a tougher challenge than the criminal groups his government has fought at home.
“But when God grants us victory, those who say all these things today will change their tune,” Bukele wrote on US social media platform X.
He also branded the Haitian gangs “satanic” and accused them of carrying out human sacrifices, offering no evidence for the claim.
The deployment comes as clashes escalate between armed gangs and the international security force, which the UN Security Council authorized to help Haitian police restore order. Haiti has endured years of worsening gang violence, with armed groups controlling large parts of Port-au-Prince and pushing into surrounding regions. UN estimates put the number of people displaced by the violence at nearly 1.5 million, deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
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