Bukele launches operation to find Salvadorans missing in Haiti

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said Wednesday he had launched a military operation to rescue four Salvadoran aviation technicians missing in Haiti after gangs attacked their armored vehicle. He warned of a stronger response unless the men were returned alive and unharmed.

The four men fled the vehicle after gangs opened fire on it Sunday in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince. They have not been seen since. The attack was the first major assault on the international gang suppression force since it began operating in Haiti last year.

Addressing the gangs in a post on X, Bukele demanded the men’s return “alive, unharmed.” If they were released, he said, “everything will go back to the way it was before the kidnapping.” Otherwise, he threatened a larger operation.

“Today’s attack is nothing compared to what is coming if they do not release the four hostages alive. And do not take our words as empty threats,” he wrote. In another warning quoted by Al Jazeera, Bukele said: “We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too.”

Bukele gave no details of the operation. It was unclear whether any further action would be carried out by Salvadoran, Haitian or international forces, NPR reported. His post included video showing armored vehicles with shattered windows driving through smoke.

Haiti’s government said Wednesday evening that freeing the men was an “absolute priority.” It said officials had met at the prime minister’s office “to assess the ongoing interventions and determine the necessary measures to strengthen operations, in close collaboration with the Gang Repression Force.”

“All necessary resources are being mobilized to achieve this goal,” the government said. It was not immediately clear whether Haitian authorities had confirmation that the four men were alive. A spokesperson for the international force did not immediately respond to a request for details.

Bukele said the Salvadorans were aviation technicians and that his country’s mission in Haiti “consists only of pilots and technical personnel” focused mainly on medical evacuations, “not to wage war.” NPR reported that El Salvador passed a law in early October extending its armed forces’ participation in the mission for a year and authorizing it to deploy civilian and military personnel according to the mission’s needs, expanding its role beyond medical evacuations.

The U.N.-backed force continued fighting gangs in the community where the vehicle was attacked and warned residents to stay indoors. No group has claimed responsibility. Gangs control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince, and Haiti is preparing for its first general election in more than a decade.

El Salvador, Chad, Jamaica and Guatemala are among the countries contributing to the force, which has more than 2,000 troops in Haiti. NPR reported that the U.N. approved up to 5,550 security personnel and more than 50 civilian staff in 2025, and that the Security Council extended the mission through at least March 2027.

Gang violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million people in Haiti in recent years. More than 5,700 people were killed or injured from January through mid-September, and more than 230 were kidnapped, according to the United Nations.