PORT-AU-PRINCE — El Salvador has deployed special forces troops to Haiti to rescue four military aviation technicians kidnapped by armed gangs, as President Nayib Bukele vowed victory despite warnings of a potentially dangerous confrontation.
About 200 Salvadoran soldiers arrived in the Haitian capital on Thursday and Friday to support the rescue operation, according to media reports citing security sources.
The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) confirmed Thursday that a Salvadoran contingent had arrived to assist ongoing search and security operations in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area outside Port-au-Prince.
The force said Salvadoran troops were working alongside the Haitian National Police and other security partners, urging residents of Santo and surrounding communities to avoid areas where operations were underway.
The four Salvadoran aviation technicians disappeared Sunday after armed men ambushed their armored vehicle in Santo, in the Croix-des-Bouquets commune near the capital.
The attackers opened fire and used explosives, setting the vehicle ablaze. The technicians escaped the burning vehicle but have not been heard from since.
Haitian authorities confirmed that the four men had been abducted, although their condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
Bukele announced the military rescue operation Wednesday, demanding the immediate return of the technicians alive and unharmed and warning of a stronger response if they were injured or killed.
He stressed that the missing personnel were noncombatant aviation technicians primarily responsible for medical evacuation operations.
His warning prompted a response from Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo San Jou, the leader of the notorious 400 Mawozo gang, 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, declaring that he would not flee and was prepared to confront Salvadoran forces.
No armed group has publicly claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
On Friday, Bukele rejected warnings that Haiti’s heavily armed gangs posed a greater challenge than the criminal organizations his government has confronted in El Salvador.
“But when God grants us victory, those who say all these things today will change their tune,” Bukele wrote on X.
The Salvadoran president also described Haitian gangs as “satanic” and accused them of carrying out human sacrifices, although he provided no evidence to substantiate the allegation.
The deployment comes amid escalating confrontations between armed gangs and the international security force authorized by the UN Security Council to support Haitian police in restoring order.
Haiti has experienced years of worsening gang violence, with armed groups controlling large parts of Port-au-Prince and expanding their operations into surrounding regions.
The violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people, according to UN estimates, worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis.
Source: Saudi Gazette