El Salvador to send over 2,000 soldiers to Haiti to rescue missing soldiers

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador will deploy over 2,000 soldiers to Haiti as part of a large-scale operation to rescue four Salvadoran military aviation technicians and support ​anti-gang security operations in the country, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry said President Nayib Bukele discussed the operation with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime during a phone call.

Bukele emphasized the forceful nature of the operation to rescue the four military personnel and reaffirmed El Salvador's willingness to continue supporting efforts to combat gangs in Haiti, according to the statement.

Fils-Aime's office ​confirmed the call in a separate statement, saying the two leaders "reaffirmed ​their engagement ⁠to reinforce bilateral coordination and operational cooperation in the framework of the (UN-backed) Gang Suppression Force, notably to support rescue operations and respond to security challenges."

The office did not immediately respond ⁠to ​a request for comment on whether this meant the ​new Salvadoran forces would join the UN-backed mission or operate separately.

This comes just over a ​week after four Salvadoran aircraft technicians were reported missing after an ambush on their vehicle in a ‌gang-controlled ⁠area on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.

Tensions between the two central American countries have escalated over the disappearance of the four air force technicians working as part of a UN-backed anti-gang operation in Haiti.

The four soldiers with the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) were traveling back to their base in an armoured vehicle when they were ambushed in an area of the Caribbean island nation controlled by armed groups called Croix-des-Bouquets.

No gang has so far claimed responsibility.

Earlier this week, Haiti handed four bodies over to special forces claiming they belonged to those of the missing servicemen, but Bukele said they did not match.

He said one of the corpses was a child's and another was wearing a different country's military uniform.

Bukele threatened last week in an X post to wipe out Haiti's gangs, saying he will replicate action he has taken in El Salvador, if they did not release the Salvadorans.

In October last year, the UN Security Council approved expanded powers for the GSF to tackle worsening gang violence in Haiti.

The multinational force has struggled to penetrate areas where gangs hold sway. More than 5,700 people were killed in gang-related violence in Haiti this year, the UN says, and armed gangs control much of the capital.

Haiti has been ravaged by gang violence for years, but the situation has worsened in the political vacuum that followed the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Bukele announced an operation to rescue them and has since deployed hundreds of soldiers to the Caribbean country, but has not clarified their command structure, length of stay, nor what they will be doing.

Meanwhile, Haiti's electoral council ‌postponed planned presidential elections to next year.

The Caribbean's most populous nation has not held elections since 2016 and its last president was assassinated in 2021. Successive transitional leaders have postponed a vote ​, citing insecurity as armed criminal organizations expand their territories.

Since 2024, foreign troops ​have deployed under UN-backed security missions intended to help Haitian police secure ⁠neighborhoods and pave the way to a secure and credible vote.

In July, Haiti's ​electoral council scheduled the long-awaited election for December 13, but earlier this month it announced ​it was reviewing its schedule, without providing a specific timeframe.

The new calendar published on Wednesday by the council has scheduled a first round presidential and legislative vote for July 18, 2027, followed by ​a second round with local elections on October 4.