President Nayib Bukele said he had launched a military operation to rescue four Salvadoran soldiers kidnapped in Haiti.
Published on October 22, 2026
El Salvador launched a military operation to rescue four Salvadoran soldiers kidnapped by gangs in Haiti, President Nayib Bukele announced in a post on X, without further details.
Bukele, known for his intense crackdown on gang violence in El Salvador, warned in a statement Wednesday that a more forceful response would be coming if the staff were not released unharmed.
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“Don’t take our word for empty threats,” the president wrote, addressing the gangs believed to be responsible for detaining the four men. “We are already done with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can be done with you too. »
Gangs in Haiti opened fire on an armored vehicle carrying the men three days earlier, in the first major attack since an international gang crackdown force began operating in the violence-wracked Caribbean country last year.
The four men, aviation technicians with the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), have been missing since fleeing the burning vehicle in the Santo neighborhood of Croix-des-Bouquets in Port-au-Prince.
“Top priority”
The Haitian government issued a press release Wednesday evening saying that the release of the kidnapped soldiers was a “top priority.”
It was not immediately clear whether Haitian authorities had received confirmation that the Salvadoran soldiers were alive.
The government said a meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office “to assess ongoing interventions and determine the measures needed to strengthen operations, in close collaboration with the Gang Suppression Force”.
A GSF spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking details.
The UN-backed force continues to battle gangs in the community where Sunday’s attack took place, warning residents in the area to stay at home.
More than a million displaced in Haiti
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on Salvadoran troops, which comes as Haiti prepares for its first general elections in more than a decade. It also shows the power of the gangs who control about 70 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
El Salvador is among several countries – including Chad, Jamaica and Guatemala – that are part of the gang suppression force, with more than 2,000 troops on the ground in Haiti.
Gang violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people in Haiti in recent years. More than 5,700 people were killed or injured between January and mid-September this year, and more than 230 were kidnapped, according to the UN.
The area where the armored vehicle was targeted is controlled by gangs, including Chèn Méchan; Kraze Barye, directed by Vitel’Homme Innocent; and 400 Mawozo, led by Lanmo Sanjou.
The two gang leaders were sanctioned by the UN and the United States.
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