El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, said on Saturday, October 24, that remains recovered on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince were not those of the four Salvadoran Air Force aviation technicians kidnapped by gangs in Haiti six days earlier. "They are not our men," he wrote on X, saying the remains included a child, "a man considerably taller than the missing technicians," and a person wearing part of a foreign military uniform. His statement contradicted a New York Times report the same day, citing two people familiar with the international security mission, that four bodies believed to be the Salvadorans had been found; one source told the paper the bodies were badly burned and would need autopsies to be identified. The remains were collected by Hero Client Rescue, a firm led by former State Department security official Scott Reece, which said it had been called in "as a neutral humanitarian medical team." As of Sunday, the identities of the remains had not been independently confirmed, and the four men's whereabouts were unknown.
The ambush
The four technicians serve with the Gang Suppression Force, the United Nations-backed international mission fighting Haiti's gangs, where El Salvador's contingent flies transport and medical evacuation missions. On Sunday, October 18, gunmen attacked their armored vehicle in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, a gang-held district northeast of Port-au-Prince, as they returned to base from a market. The men fled the burning vehicle and have not been seen since. No group has claimed the attack; Haitian and international reports have pointed to the Chèn Méchan and 400 Mawozo gangs, but neither has been officially identified as responsible. Euronews described it as the first major attack on the force since it began operating in Haiti. Diego Da Rin, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the men did not have a security detail sufficient for the area, and that the kidnapping was likely meant to force negotiations and deter incursions rather than to raise ransom.
A rescue operation, and a warning
On October 21, Bukele announced a military rescue operation in a message to Haiti's gang leaders written in Haitian Creole. "Today's attack is nothing compared to what is coming if they do not release the four hostages alive," he wrote, adding: "And do not take our words as empty threats." He also stressed that El Salvador's mission in Haiti "consists only of pilots and technical personnel, not to wage war," and said that if the men were returned safely, everything would go back to the way it was before the kidnapping. The size of the deployment has not been officially stated. The Wall Street Journal reported that 100 Salvadoran special forces soldiers were sent on October 22; other media, citing security sources, reported about 200 arriving that Thursday and Friday; and the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that El Salvador's presence had grown to as many as 450 personnel. The U.S. military flew Salvadoran troops in on a C-130 transport plane, and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the Security Council the attack would not force the mission to withdraw.
The search began before the formal announcement. A Salvadoran helicopter was fired on while searching the area on October 19, and the same day the Gang Suppression Force and the Haitian National Police launched a helicopter-backed offensive in the Cul-de-Sac plain; unofficial sources claimed at least 18 gang members were killed, a figure no official body has confirmed, and four members of the force were injured. Gang leaders answered with videos: one, known as Krisla, said on October 22 that the gangs would "fight to the end," and Wilson Joseph of 400 Mawozo posted video of ammunition the next day, saying he would wait for the Salvadorans.
Pressure at home and in the region
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé called the technicians' release an "absolute priority." In El Salvador, Rafael Aguirre, the presidential candidate of the opposition FMLN party, called for Salvadoran military personnel to be withdrawn from Haiti, while Bukele said he was confident the gangs would be defeated. Neighboring Dominican Republic's president, Luis Abinader, said he had discussed logistical and intelligence cooperation with Bukele and had reinforced the border with more troops, armored vehicles, drones and aircraft, saying: "We are prepared to respond firmly to any threat." He said gangs had not approached the border. The Gang Suppression Force, which began deploying in April, has struggled to reach its planned strength of 5,500 personnel; El Salvador's legislature this fall extended the country's participation for another year and broadened its mandate.
This article reflects reporting through the evening of Sunday, October 25, 2026. Sources: Anadolu Agency, October 25; Euronews, October 22; NPR, October 22; Saudi Gazette; Wikipedia, "2026 Croix-des-Bouquets kidnapping", citing The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Le Nouvelliste and El Diario de Hoy.
