The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, threatened on Wednesday to carry his offensive against gangs to Haiti if the criminal groups that, he claimed, are holding four Salvadoran soldiers hostage do not release them alive and unharmed.
In a message posted on his official X account, the president announced the start of a military rescue operation and issued a direct warning to the leaders of Haitian armed gangs, assuring them that his government is prepared to escalate actions if the hostages do not return home.
We have already dealt with the gangs in El Salvador, and we can take care of yours as well, Bukele wrote, referencing the results of his security policy against criminal organizations in his country.
The president accompanied his message with a video featuring military vehicles and gunfire.
According to the report by Associated Press, the publication occurred three days after an ambush against Salvadoran military personnel participating in an international security mission in Haiti.
"I want you, gang leaders, to understand something very clearly: today's attack is nothing compared to what is to come if you do not release the four hostages alive," the president warned.
Bukele insisted that his words should not be interpreted as a threat without consequences and offered to halt any escalation if the four Salvadorans are released.
Return our four compatriots alive, unharmed, and everything will go back to how it was before the kidnapping. The decision is in your hands, he stated.
The missing are four Salvadoran military aviation technicians who are part of the Gang Suppression Force, known by its English acronym GSF, a multinational mission backed by the United Nations to support Haitian authorities in the face of violence from criminal organizations.
The president clarified that the members of the Salvadoran contingent were not intended to participate directly in combat, but rather to fulfill roles related to aviation and medical evacuations.
"The hostages are not combatants. They are aviation technicians who are part of our mission in Haiti," he stated.
According to Bukele, the Salvadoran personnel deployed in the Caribbean country consists of pilots and technical specialists whose main task is to carry out medical evacuations and save lives, not to participate in military operations.
The president stated that the four men were kidnapped while returning from buying food at a market in the area.
The incident occurred on Sunday, October 18, in Croix-des-Bouquets, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, when heavily armed men attacked the armored vehicle in which the Salvadorans were traveling.
According to information released by EFE, based on a statement from the Armed Forces of El Salvador, the soldiers belong to Task Force Liberty II and were ambushed while returning to their camp.
The vehicle sustained numerous gunshots and was hit by explosives, which caused a fire. The four Salvadorans managed to escape from the armored vehicle, but contact with them was lost afterward.
International forces deployed ground operations and air support to try to locate them. However, violence in the area hampered search and rescue efforts.
The Salvadoran military initially reported that the soldiers were missing.
Bukele later assured that they were kidnapped by gangs, although up until the announcement this Wednesday, the group that supposedly holds them captive had not been publicly identified.
No proof of life or independent information has been released to confirm the conditions in which the four Salvadorans are found.
The agency Reuters confirmed that Bukele announced a military rescue operation, but noted that the president did not provide additional details regarding its scope nor identify the organization responsible for the alleged kidnapping.
The incident represents one of the most serious attacks against international forces deployed in Haiti since the start of operations for the new gang suppression mission.
The GSF was created to support the National Police of Haiti and combat the armed groups that control large areas of Port-au-Prince and its surroundings.
The force includes contingents from various countries, including El Salvador, Chad, Jamaica, and Guatemala. Its deployment is supported internationally and aims to help restore security in a country undergoing a prolonged political and humanitarian crisis.
According to Associated Press, the mission currently comprises more than 2,000 personnel, although its operational capacity remains below the initially anticipated level.
Bukele's threat is related to the security model he has implemented in El Salvador since March 2022, when a state of emergency was established that allowed for the expansion of detention powers for the authorities.
In August, a report on the transformation of security in El Salvador documented the significant reduction in homicides under Bukele's government, following decades of violence primarily attributed to the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs.
According to the official statistics gathered in that publication, the country went from recording 6,656 homicides in 2015 to 82 in 2025, a reduction that the Salvadoran government presents as one of the main results of its strategy.
However, the state of emergency has also raised concerns from international human rights organizations, which report arbitrary detentions, restrictions on due process, and deaths in state custody.
On October 14th, Bukele asserted that El Salvador is progressing towards becoming the safest country in the world, after releasing new official figures regarding the reduction of violence.
On that occasion, the president stated that crime rates continued to decline and highlighted a homicide rate of less than one case per 100,000 inhabitants in the course of 2026.
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