Bukele says military operation launched to rescue Salvadorans held by gangs in Haiti

Armored police vehicles that are part of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) patrol the Tabarre neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. Odelyn Joseph/AP hide caption Odelyn Joseph/AP SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Wednesday he had launched a military operation to rescue four Salvadoran aviation technicians kidnapped by gangs in Haiti, warning of a more forceful response if they are not released alive and unharmed. Gangs in Haiti had opened fire on an armored vehicle three days earlier the first major attack since an international gang suppression force began operating in the violence-wracked Caribbean country. The four Salvadoran soldiers have been missing since they fled the burning vehicle in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, Port-au-Prince. Addressing Haitian gang leaders, Bukele demanded that they return the Salvadorans "alive, unharmed" and warned that, if they do so, "everything will go back to the way it was before the kidnapping." If not, the Salvadoran leader — who drew international attention for his contentious war on his own country's gangs — said it would result in a more powerful operation. "Today's attack is nothing co...