Four Salvadoran soldiers disappeared after their convoy was ambushed near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, while returning to base from a market. El Salvador has sent reinforcements to help find them, with search operations continuing in the area where they were last seen.

About 200 Salvadoran troops arrived in the capital on October 22 and 23, according to a security source cited by AFP. The missing men’s whereabouts and condition remain unconfirmed.

Search centres on their last known location

The Gang Suppression Force, a UN-backed international deployment tasked with combating Haiti’s armed gangs, confirmed the contingent’s arrival on October 22. It said the troops would support search and security operations in Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, where the four men were last seen.

The force said it was working closely with the Haitian National Police and other operational partners.

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Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council that attackers fired hundreds of rounds at the men’s armoured vehicle and used explosives. He said he believed all four had survived, but they remained missing.

Bukele orders rescue and threatens captors

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on October 21 that he had ordered a military operation to rescue the men. He described them as aviation technicians whose main duties were medical evacuations and saving lives, rather than combat.

In a message in Haitian Creole that day, Bukele addressed people he said were holding the soldiers hostage. He warned of much worse consequences unless all four returned alive and unharmed, saying El Salvador could defeat Haiti’s gangs as it had those at home.

On October 23, Bukele dismissed warnings that Haitian gangs were more violent and better armed than those his government had confronted. He said God would give his forces victory.

Warnings over a different battlefield

Dominican politician Humberto Salazar questioned whether El Salvador’s approach could work in Haiti. He said gangs there controlled extensive territory, possessed military-grade weapons and had withstood earlier international interventions.

Salazar warned that Salvadoran troops could become involved in urban warfare on unfamiliar ground. Bukele rejected those doubts and said his critics would change their position once his forces won.

The search comes amid a severe toll from gang violence. UN figures released in early October showed that at least 5,700 people had been killed or injured in Haiti since the start of the year.