El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced Wednesday that his government had launched a military operation in Haiti to rescue four Salvadoran Air Force personnel missing since Sunday, warning armed gangs of further action if the men were not returned alive.
The four men disappeared after an ambush in Croix-des-Bouquets, a gang-controlled area near Port-au-Prince. Bukele said they were aviation technicians assigned to a multinational security mission, rather than combat troops, and had been abducted while returning from buying food at a local market.
"Our mission consists only of pilots and technical personnel, whose main job is to carry out medical evacuations and save lives, not to wage war," Bukele wrote on X, according to BBC Mundo.
"We have already defeated the gangs in El Salvador, and we can defeat you too," he added, warning gang leaders that the rescue operation would be minor compared with what could follow if the four men were harmed.
According to El Salvador's military, the personnel were returning to their camp in an armored vehicle when attackers struck it with explosives, setting it on fire. The men escaped, but communication was subsequently lost.
Reuters reported October 19 that Salvadoran helicopters dispatched to assist came under fire, while fighting prevented ground and air teams from reaching the area. No gang had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of the reports.
Bukele's announcement followed confirmation by Haiti's National Police and the multinational Gang Suppression Force that security operations were underway in the area.
The Salvadorans are part of the UN-authorized Gang Suppression Force, established to help Haitian authorities confront armed groups after an earlier Kenya-led mission struggled with funding and resources.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) October 21, 2026Pou chèf gang yo ak manm gang yo k ap kenbe kat konpatriyòt nou yo an otaj ann Ayiti:
Mesye nou kidnape yo pa konbatan. Yo se teknisyen nan domèn avyasyon ki fè pati misyon nou ann Ayiti, nan kad yon misyon entènasyonal. Misyon nou an gen sèlman pilòt ak pèsonèl teknik, ki gen… pic.twitter.com/BNKbWTAQQp
According to a UN News report earlier this week, the force had 1,563 uniformed personnel deployed as of October 12, substantially below its authorized strength of 5,550.
The incident comes as Haiti faces continuing insecurity and delayed elections. Armed groups control much of Port-au-Prince, while gang violence has displaced approximately 1.5 million people.
Romain Le Cour, a researcher with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told Reuters that holding international personnel hostage could give armed groups leverage in negotiations and increase pressure on security forces.
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