By Breaking Belize News Staff: El Salvador has deployed 100 special forces soldiers to Haiti as President Nayib Bukele intensifies efforts to rescue four Salvadoran military personnel abducted during a gang attack.
According to The Associated Press, the troops arrived in Haiti on Thursday, October 22, a day after Bukele announced a military rescue operation and warned gang leaders of severe consequences if the four men were not returned alive and unharmed.
A Salvadoran government official also indicated that another 100 soldiers were expected to arrive Thursday night, potentially bringing the deployment to 200 personnel.
The four missing Salvadorans are aviation technicians serving with the international Gang Suppression Force in Haiti. They were abducted following an attack on Sunday, October 18, in Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of Port-au-Prince.
According to authorities, gang members opened fire on an armoured vehicle carrying the men and used explosives during the ambush.
Bukele has emphasized that the missing personnel were assigned to humanitarian operations, including medical evacuations, rather than frontline combat duties.
In his warning to the kidnappers on Wednesday, Bukele invoked his government’s crackdown on criminal gangs in El Salvador, declaring that his country had already eliminated gangs at home and could do the same in Haiti.
The deployment represents a significant escalation in El Salvador’s response to the abductions and comes as Haiti continues struggling with heavily armed gangs that control large sections of the capital and surrounding communities.
The international Gang Suppression Force, which replaced the earlier Kenyan-led security mission, has faced persistent shortages of personnel and resources.
Salvadoran authorities reportedly believe the four missing men are still alive, although their whereabouts remain unknown.
No gang has publicly claimed responsibility for the abductions, and there has been no confirmed announcement that the hostages have been rescued.
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