El Salvador's president threatens Haitian gangs over military hostages

El Salvador's president threatens Haitian gangs over military hostages

El Salvador's president said he has begun a military operation to recover four air force personnel who have been missing in Haiti since Sunday.

In a post on X, Nayib Bukele said Wednesday's attack was "nothing" compared with what would happen if all the hostages — whom he said were not combatants — were not returned alive.

El Salvador's armed forces said the men disappeared after being ambushed by "heavily armed criminal groups." The ambush took place in Croix-des-Bouquets, an area under the control of armed groups.

They were members of the so-called Gang Suppression Force (GSF), which the United Nations Security Council approved earlier this month to address worsening gang violence in Haiti.

Bukele said the mission included pilots and technical staff whose main role was to "carry out medical evacuations and save lives, not to wage war".

According to his post, the Salvadoran military operation had one goal: to bring the four men home alive.

He also said that if all four were returned alive and unharmed, "everything will go back to how it was before the kidnapping".

Bukele said they were kidnapped "in a cowardly manner" while heading back after buying food at a market in the area.

A statement from the Armed Forces of El Salvador on Sunday said the group was ambushed while returning to its camp in an armoured vehicle, which caught fire after being struck by explosives.

No gang has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Salvadoran helicopters were sent in to help, while several attempts to approach by land and air were hindered by fighting and local security conditions, the armed forces said.

On Wednesday, before Bukele announced the military operation, the GSF said it was searching for the four missing personnel after the attack.

It said it had "engaged armed gang elements, with helicopter support" and that early reports suggested several gang members had been killed.

Earlier this week, the UN warned that Haiti's armed gangs were adjusting to tighter security conditions, saying they were "stepping up reprisals against civilians and extending their reach into rural areas".

Haiti has not held elections since 2016, and two weeks ago it postponed presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for 13 December, indefinitely.

The country has been hit by economic chaos, a political vacuum and increasingly violent gang warfare since its president was assassinated in 2021.

More than 5,500 people were killed in gang-related violence in Haiti in 2024. Armed gangs now control about 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.