El Salvador Deploys 100 Troops To Haiti To Rescue Four Missing Service Members

El Salvador Deploys 100 Troops to Haiti to Rescue Four Missing Service Members El Salvador has deployed 100 special forces soldiers to Haiti to help rescue four Salvadoran service members believed to have been abducted by armed gangs, following an attack on personnel supporting a United Nations-backed security mission. The deployment was confirmed on Thursday by a spokesperson for Haiti’s Gang Suppression Force (GSF), a multinational mission authorised by the United Nations to assist Haitian security forces in combating gang violence. The Miami Herald first reported the deployment, according to CNN. The four missing personnel are aviation technicians assigned to support the mission. Salvadoran officials said they were ambushed on October 18 while returning to their camp in an armoured vehicle in Croix-des-Bouquets, near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The vehicle was reportedly attacked with explosives and set ablaze. Although the technicians escaped from the burning vehicle, contact with them was subsequently lost. Salvadoran authorities have been working with international forces to establish the men’s whereabouts, but intense fighting and difficult security conditions have hampered efforts to reach the area. The GSF spokesperson told CNN that the search operation had continued for several days, resulting in armed clashes that left at least seven suspected gang members dead and four GSF personnel wounded. The deployment followed an announcement by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele that his government had launched a military operation to rescue the missing personnel. He warned Haitian gang members of a stronger response if the men were not released alive and unharmed. Bukele has not publicly provided detailed operational information about the mission. Haiti’s government has also described the release of the four Salvadorans as a priority and said it was coordinating with the international security force. The incident represents a major challenge for the multinational mission, which was established to support Haitian police in confronting heavily armed gangs responsible for widespread violence, kidnappings and territorial control across parts of the country. El Salvador is among the countries contributing personnel to the force, alongside nations including Chad, Jamaica and Guatemala. The mission is authorised to have 5,500 military and police personnel, although the number deployed has remained substantially below that target. The whereabouts and condition of the four missing Salvadoran service members remained unconfirmed in reports published on October 22, as efforts to locate them continued.