El Salvador Sends More Than 2,000 Troops to Haiti in Search of Four Missing Soldiers
President Nayib Bukele has ordered a large deployment to Haiti to recover four Salvadoran air force technicians who disappeared nearly two weeks ago, while also backing the fight against local gangs.
By Amit Chukwu ·
El Salvador has sent more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti to retrieve four of its nationals who vanished in the Caribbean country almost two weeks ago. The move marks a sharp escalation in a dispute between the two countries.
According to a statement released by El Salvador's foreign ministry on Wednesday, President Nayib Bukele informed Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime of the "robust deployment" earlier this week. The ministry described the effort as a "large-scale operation" supported by various countries and international organisations.
Bukele said the troops would also help with ongoing "security efforts against gangs in Haiti", the statement said.
The missing men are air force technicians who were serving with the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), a UN-backed anti-gang mission in Haiti. They were returning to their base in an armoured vehicle when they were ambushed in Croix-des-Bouquets, an area controlled by armed groups. No gang has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The case has also become a source of friction between the two governments. Earlier this week, Haiti handed over four bodies to special forces, saying they were those of the missing servicemen. Bukele rejected the claim and said the remains did not match. He said one of the bodies was a child's, and another was wearing the military uniform of a different country.
Last week, Bukele wrote in a post on X that he would wipe out Haiti's gangs if they did not release the Salvadorans. He said he would replicate the approach he has taken against gangs in El Salvador.
The GSF was granted expanded powers by the UN Security Council in October last year to confront worsening gang violence in Haiti. However, the multinational force has struggled to enter areas where gangs hold sway.
The UN says more than 5,700 people have been killed in gang-related violence in Haiti this year, and armed groups control much of the capital. Haiti has suffered from gang violence for years, but conditions have deteriorated further amid the political vacuum that followed the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
Source: BBC News
