Bukele launches rescue operation in Haiti and warns gangs holding four Salvadorans

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday that he had launched a military operation in Haiti to rescue four Salvadoran aviation technicians kidnapped by gangs, and warned of a far heavier response if they are not returned alive.

“Today’s attack is nothing compared to what is coming if they do not release the four hostages alive,” Bukele wrote on X. “And do not take our words as empty threats.” He shared video of armoured vehicles with shattered windows moving through smoke.

An ambush in Croix-des-Bouquets

The four have been missing since Sunday, when gunmen opened fire on an armoured vehicle in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, on the edge of Port-au-Prince. They fled the burning vehicle and have not been seen since. It was the first major attack on the international gang suppression force since it began operating in Haiti.

No group has claimed the attack. The area is controlled by the Chèn Méchan, Kraze Barye and 400 Mawozo gangs. Kraze Barye is led by Vitelhomme Innocent and 400 Mawozo by Lanmo Sanjou, both of whom are under UN and US sanctions.

Bukele demanded that the Salvadorans be handed back “alive, unharmed”, and said that if they were, “everything will go back to the way it was before the kidnapping”. He stressed that El Salvador’s contingent “consists only of pilots and technical personnel”, whose main job was medical evacuation, “not to wage war”.

Haiti’s government said in a statement on Wednesday evening that “the release of the abducted soldiers is an absolute priority”. It was not clear whether Haitian authorities had confirmed that the four were still alive.

A force under strain

The UN-backed force has more than 2,000 troops from countries including El Salvador, Chad, Jamaica and Guatemala. The UN approved up to 5,550 security personnel in 2025, and the Security Council has extended the mission at least until March 2027. Earlier this month El Salvador passed a law extending its military’s participation for a year and allowing its personnel to do more than medical evacuations.

Gangs are estimated to control about 70 per cent of Port-au-Prince. Their violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million Haitians in recent years, and the UN counted more than 5,700 people killed or injured and more than 230 kidnapped between January and mid-September.

The kidnapping comes as Haiti prepares for its first general election in more than a decade.

Bukele built his domestic popularity on a sweeping crackdown on gangs at home. His threat now raises the question of how far a contingent sent to fly helicopters and evacuate the wounded may be drawn into direct combat.