Heraldo de Madrid - El Salvador sends troops to Haiti to find 4 missing soldiers

A contingent from El Salvador arrived on Thursday "to support ongoing search and security operations" in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area outside the capital Port-au-Prince, the Gang Suppression Force (GFS) said in a statement on X.

"The Force continues its operations in the area in close coordination with the Haitian National Police and relevant operational partners," GFS said, urging local residents to stay away.

The four Salvadoran soldiers went missing after their armored vehicle was ambushed by gangs on Sunday as they were returning to base from a market outside Port-au-Prince, according to US envoy to the United Nations Mike Waltz.

The attackers fired hundreds of bullets and used explosives against the vehicle, Waltz said, adding that officials believed the four soldiers had survived.

In a statement on X on Wednesday, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele insisted the soldiers were not combatants, but aviation technicians "whose primary job is to carry out medical evacuations and save lives, not to wage war."

He issued a stern warning, demanding their release.

"I want you, the gang leaders, to understand one thing very clearly: today's attack is nothing compared to what is coming if we do not get all four hostages back alive," wrote Bukele, who has pursued a sweeping crackdown on gangs in his home country.

"Do not take our word for empty threats. We have already finished with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can finish with you too."

Bukele, whose government has detained tens of thousands and built a massive high-security prison, CECOT, to house suspected gang members, continued.

"We still have time to avoid this. Return our four compatriots to us alive, without any harm, and everything will go back to how it was before the kidnapping," he wrote. "The decision is in your hands."

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has long been in crisis but the situation has deteriorated in recent years as gangs step up killings, kidnappings, rape and child recruitment.

Earlier this month, Haitian authorities indefinitely postponed elections that were due to be held in December.

The country has not held elections since 2016, and its last president, assassinated in 2021, has not been replaced.

The GSF is being slowly deployed to assist overwhelmed local police. The mission is intended to reach 5,500 personnel.

Currently, it has only 2,000 members from six contributing countries.

M.Soler--HdM