Haiti sees 2,000 Salvadoran troops after ambush

More than 2,000 Salvadoran troops have flown into Haiti in a little over a week after four Salvadoran personnel went missing in an October 18 ambush, effectively doubling the number of foreign soldiers operating in the country.

President Nayib Bukele said the deployment was aimed at bringing home the four aviation technicians, who had been operating as part of a UN-backed anti-gang force. He said on Thursday that El Salvador's mission was not to eliminate Haiti's gangs, but to retrieve its personnel.

Bukele said the troops would rescue the missing Salvadorans by force if they were not released willingly, and then leave Haiti. He added that if that did not happen, the force would move in “little by little.”

The Salvadoran troops are not operating under a UN framework. Haitian authorities have referred to “security cooperation” with El Salvador, but the precise legal basis for the deployment is unclear.

The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force in Haiti has about 2,000 troops and has hoped to grow to 5,000. Haiti also has its national police, its army and foreign military contractors operating in the country.

The Pentagon told AFP it sent at least two military aircraft to Port-au-Prince for logistical support last week. AFP identified about 20 charter flights between San Salvador and Port-au-Prince from October 22 to 29 using flight-tracking data. Satellite imagery during the same period showed 10 tent-like structures erected at the military section of Port-au-Prince's international airport.

Jake Johnston, a Haiti expert at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, told AFP the scale of the deployment did not look like only a search-and-rescue mission. Crisis Group analyst Diego Da Rin said several forces were operating without a single clear chain of command.