OMM Newsroom
El Salvador has sent troops to Haiti to help find four Salvadoran military technicians abducted by armed gangs, as President Nayib Bukele dismissed warnings about the risks of a rescue operation and vowed victory. Anadolu Agency reported that about 200 Salvadoran soldiers arrived in Port-au-Prince on Thursday and Friday, citing security sources.
The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) confirmed that a Salvadoran contingent arrived on Thursday to support ongoing search and security operations in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area outside the capital. The troops are working with the Haitian National Police and other security partners, the force said, urging residents of Santo and nearby communities to avoid areas where operations are under way.
The four Salvadoran aviation technicians went missing on Sunday after armed men ambushed their armoured vehicle in Santo, in the Croix-des-Bouquets commune near Port-au-Prince. The attackers fired weapons and used explosives, setting the vehicle ablaze. The technicians escaped the burning vehicle but have not been heard from since.
Haitian authorities have confirmed the men were abducted, but their condition and whereabouts remain unknown. Bukele announced a military rescue operation on Wednesday, demanding that the four men be returned alive and unharmed and threatening a stronger response if they were harmed. He said they were non-combatant aviation technicians whose main duties involved medical evacuations.
Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo San Jou, responded to Bukele’s warning. Joseph leads the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, which operates in the area and is part of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition. In a video circulated on social media, he displayed large quantities of ammunition and challenged Bukele, saying he would not flee and was prepared to fight Salvadoran forces. No gang has publicly claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
On Friday, Bukele dismissed warnings that Haiti’s heavily armed gangs posed a greater challenge than the criminal groups his government has confronted in El Salvador. “But when God grants us victory, those who say all these things today will change their tune,” he wrote on “X”.
Bukele also described Haitian gangs as “satanic” and accused them of carrying out human sacrifices, without presenting evidence for the allegation.
The Salvadoran deployment comes amid escalating clashes between armed gangs and the international security force, which was authorised by the UN Security Council to support Haitian police in restoring security. Haiti has faced years of worsening gang violence, with armed groups controlling large parts of Port-au-Prince and expanding into surrounding regions.
According to UN estimates, the violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people, deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
