El Salvador sends 2K troops to Haiti to rescue four missing soldiers

Monday, November 2, 2026

Gang Suppression Force (GSF) vehicles are seen in a traffic jam in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Approximately 450 Salvadoran soldiers have arrived in the Haitian capital to reinforce the GSF and take part in search operations for four missing Salvadoran nationals. ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES

SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador has deployed more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti as part of a mission to retrieve four nationals who went missing in the Caribbean country almost two weeks ago.

The “robust deployment” was communicated by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to the Prime Minister of Haiti Alix Didier Fils-Aimé earlier this week, the foreign ministry of El Salvador said in a statement.

Bukele said the soldiers would also assist ongoing “security efforts against gangs in Haiti”, the statement continued.

Tensions between the two Central American countries have escalated over the disappearance of the four air force technicians working as part of a UN-backed anti-gang organization in Haiti. (BBC)