SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Gangs in Haiti opened fire on an armored vehicle over the weekend, leaving four El Salvador soldiers missing in the first major attack since a international gang suppression force began operations in the Caribbean country ravaged by violence.
The attack occurred Sunday in Croix-des-Bouquets, a once-peaceful community in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, now controlled by violent gangs.
The armed forces of El Salvador said in a statement Monday that the four aviation technicians were returning to camp when their armored vehicle was attacked with explosives and set on fire.
The military noted that the four men managed to flee the burning vehicle and that it was working with international forces to “establish contact and determine the location of our military personnel.”
Salvadoran authorities said helicopters were sent to the area, but they too came under fire as they dispersed armed men in the area.
“Multiple attempts to approach by land and air were made, but they were hampered by the intensity of the fighting,” the Salvadoran army said.
The weapons and ammunition used by the gangs are not manufactured in Haiti and will continue to find ways to enter the country, Wien-Weibert Arthus, Haiti’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council on Monday.
“This latest episode is a reminder, as if we really needed one, that the security challenges in Haiti are complex and complicated,” he said. “We hope that the missing people can return to their families unharmed. »
Gang violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people, a record, across Haiti in recent years, with more than 5,700 people killed or injured between January and mid-September, and more than 230 others kidnapped, according to the UN.
A warning from the United States
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, condemned the attack at the UN Security Council meeting on Haiti.
“We believe all four men survived, but they are still missing,” he said. “We’ll take you home.”
Waltz said gangs attacked the armored vehicle with “hundreds of bullets and explosives.”
“To the gangs and gang leaders who carried out this cowardly attack, if you think you are going to intimidate this coalition into retreat, you have made a terrible mistake,” he said.
The gang enforcement force said in a statement it was assessing the situation and had advised residents at the scene of the attack to stay indoors.
“Gangs are testing the gang suppression force,” Jack Christofides, the force’s special representative, told the UN on Monday, noting that attacks on the force have increased recently.
He warned that gangs have committed retaliatory killings in some areas following operations by Haitian and international forces, and have moved deeper into places including the community of Kenscoff and the Artibonite region.
“The reality is we can’t be everywhere at once,” Christofides said.
Haiti prepares for elections despite violence
The area where the armored vehicle was targeted is controlled by gangs including Chèn Méchan; Kraze Barye, directed by Vitelhomme Innocent; and 400 Mawozo, led by Lanmo Sanjou. The two gang leaders were sanctioned by the UN and the United States.
Romain Le Cour, director of the Haiti Observatory of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said that while some gangs have been under pressure since the deployment of the repressive force, “others want to show that they can fight back.”
“If these soldiers are actually detained, the groups will have an advantage in negotiating and putting pressure on the security forces,” he said.
In September 2025, the UN Security Council authorized the force of 5,550 members to replace a former Kenyan-led multinational force that struggled with a lack of funds and resources as it tried to help the Haitian National Police quell gang violence.
The gang suppression force has more than 2,000 troops on the ground in Haiti, including soldiers from Chad, Jamaica and Guatemala.
“Strength makes a difference with what it has,” Christofides said, adding that authorities have begun to see the first signs of a reduction in gang influence and control in some areas.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on Salvadoran troops. It comes as Haiti prepares for its first general elections in more than a decade and highlights the power of gangs that control about 70% of Port-au-Prince.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, said during Monday’s meeting that electoral preparations “have reached an unprecedented level of progress.”
He said more than 35 political parties and groups have registered, as well as 3,500 candidates. Among them is former Haitian president Michel Martellywhich was sanctioned in November 2022 by Canada and in August 2024 by the United States, which accused him of facilitating drug trafficking and sponsoring several gangs.
Gn world
