In a country that has lived without an elected government since 2021, a small team of Salvadoran aviation technicians vanished after an attack by gangs, and their burned truck is all that has surfaced in the Port-au-Prince area. Their disappearance has drawn El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, to send more than 2,000 troops and military hardware into Haiti, where foreign forces now move alongside Haitian police under a UN-backed mission. Beneath the spectacle of armed patrols lies a older and harder question: who answers for the force used, and whether the civilians caught between gangs and
Bukele Touts Salvadoran Troop Deployment in Haiti as Four Missing Technicians Remain Unfound
Four Salvadoran technicians are missing after a gang attack; MSF reports 30 people injured in eight days and a rising displacement risk.
The truck was found. The four men were not.
Mark
Why did the burned truck matter so much on Tuesday?
Mimi
It's the first physical trace of the four technicians since October 18. It shows where the attack ended up, but the men themselves are still missing.
Luke
And that's all we know. Police say the truck was theirs. Nothing in the reporting says what happened to the men or who holds them.
Mark
Bukele has been posting heavily. How much of that can we take at face value?
Mimi
The posts show his framing: soldiers greeted by locals, gangs losing ground. He says the helicopter video shows fire on gangs attacking Chadian GSF troops.
Luke
Right, that's his description. The reporting says he said the video showed that. It doesn't independently confirm it, and neither does the claim that gangs have lost the upper hand.
Mark
There's a gap over command, isn't there?
Mimi
Yes. The UN says only about 200 Salvadoran soldiers fall under the GSF. The prime minister says foreign forces operate under Haitian authority.
Luke
Those two statements aren't necessarily contradictory, but the reporting doesn't explain how they fit together for the other 1,800 or so troops. That's an open question.
Mark
What does MSF add?
Mimi
Numbers from the ground: 30 injured in eight days, and blocked routes to hospitals. They expect more displacement as more forces arrive.
Luke
Worth noting that's a forecast and a fear, not a count of what has happened since the troops landed.
Il Polso
- Four Salvadoran technicians remain missing more than two weeks after their truck was found burned in Croix-des-Bouquets.
- Over 2,000 Salvadoran troops and heavy hardware have poured into Haiti, with Bukele posting videos of helicopters firing on gangs.
- Only about 200 of those soldiers fall under UN Gang Suppression Force jurisdiction, leaving command and accountability unclear.
- MSF counts 30 wounded in eight days as gunfire and drones block roads, bridges and routes to health clinics.
- Elections have slid to July 2027 and aid deliveries are disrupted, with 5.94 million Haitians facing acute hunger.
In a country that has lived without an elected government since 2021, a small team of Salvadoran aviation technicians vanished after an attack by gangs, and their burned truck is all that has surfaced in the Port-au-Prince area. Their disappearance has drawn El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, to send more than 2,000 troops and military hardware into Haiti, where foreign forces now move alongside Haitian police under a UN-backed mission. Beneath the spectacle of armed patrols lies a older and harder question: who answers for the force used, and whether the civilians caught between gangs and the state will be protected or further displaced.
On a Tuesday, Haitian police published photographs of a burned truck in the Santo neighbourhood of Croix-des-Bouquets, the vehicle used by four Salvadoran aviation technicians attacked by gangs on October 18. The truck was found. The men were not, and more than two weeks on, nobody knows where they are. The discovery came during a joint operation by Haitian police, the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force and Salvadoran troops, in a district that, like much of the capital, remains under gang control.
The disappearance pushed Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president since 2019 and a leader known for sweeping crackdowns that have jailed tens of thousands, to send more than 2,000 troops and military hardware to Haiti. His social media posts showed armed soldiers greeted by locals and helicopters firing on gangs. "The gangs no longer have the upper hand," he wrote.
That show of force raised a hard question of accountability. A UN spokesman said only about 200 of the Salvadoran soldiers fall under the GSF's authority, and that any operation must respect international human rights law. Haiti's prime minister insisted the foreign troops operate under Haitian authority and came to support the state, not replace it. A gang leader, Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo Sanjou, has written to the UN Secretary-General asking for dialogue, worried about civilians caught in the fighting.
Médecins Sans Frontières reports that in the eight days after October 18, gunfire and drone explosions injured 30 people in Port-au-Prince, including women and children, and that blocked roads have made reaching hospitals perilous. The group fears more victims and displacement as foreign forces arrive. Behind it all lies a country without an elected government since 2021, where elections have now slipped to July 2027, fewer than a million people have registered, and some 5.94 million face acute hunger. The open questions are whether the technicians are found, how the troops will be commanded, and whether the warnings of civilian harm come true.
On Tuesday, Haitian police posted photographs of a burned-out truck in the Santo neighbourhood of Croix-des-Bouquets, a community outside Port-au-Prince. They said it was the vehicle used by four Salvadoran aviation technicians who were attacked by gangs on October 18. The truck was found. The four men were not, and more than two weeks after their disappearance there is still no word on where they are.
The discovery came during a joint operation by Haitian police, the United Nations-backed multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF), and Salvadoran troops. Santo, like much of the capital, has been under gang control, and authorities are struggling to take it back.
The disappearance of the technicians led El Salvador's right-wing president, Nayib Bukele, to send more than 2,000 troops and military hardware to Haiti. On Wednesday he posted videos on X of heavily armed Salvadoran soldiers patrolling Haitian streets and being greeted by locals. "Gather your gangs so we can go fight with them," he wrote. A day earlier, he posted a video he said showed Salvadoran military helicopters firing on gangs that were attacking GSF soldiers from Chad. "The gangs no longer have the upper hand," he wrote. In another post he told Haitians the Salvadoran forces were beside them to help free them from the gangs.
Bukele has governed El Salvador since 2019 on a platform of harsh crackdowns on crime. He has jailed tens of thousands of people and imposed a state of emergency that rights groups say has suspended many civil rights.
The deployment has raised a question about who is accountable for the use of force. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters in New York this week that only about 200 of the Salvadoran soldiers fall under the GSF's jurisdiction. He added that any security operation must respect international human rights law and international law, and that people's rights must be protected. Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime offered a different assurance on Tuesday, speaking alongside the Salvadoran commander and Haitian and GSF commanders. The foreign forces, he said, operate under Haitian authority and "did not come to replace the state" but to support it and reinforce its capacity.
One gang leader has also spoken. Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo Sanjou and head of the 400 Mawozo gang, told the Associated Press he had written to the UN Secretary-General asking for a chance at dialogue. He said he was worried about civilians being killed as fighting surges.
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) has described what that fighting means for civilians. In the eight days after October 18, it said, heavy gunfire and drone explosions injured 30 people in Port-au-Prince, including women and children. Fighting has blocked access to roads and bridges and made travel to health facilities extremely risky for the wounded. Davina Hayles, MSF's head of mission in Haiti, said the group fears the conflict will claim more victims and displace more people in the coming days, particularly as additional international forces arrive.
The backdrop is a country without an elected government since 2021, when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. Transitional governments since then have tried to establish enough order to hold elections. Last month the nine-member Provisional Electoral Council pushed the first round from December 13 to July 18, 2027, with a second round set for October 4, 2027. Fewer than one million people have registered, out of some 6.5 million Haitians holding the identification cards that would make them eligible. Gang-controlled roads have kept officials from reaching registration centres, and violence has driven many people from their homes.
The violence has also disrupted deliveries of food and other aid. An international food security assessment released last month found some 5.94 million Haitians facing acute hunger. What to watch now: whether the four technicians are found, how command of the Salvadoran troops works in practice, and whether MSF's warning about civilian harm proves right.
Citazioni salienti
The international forces did not come to replace the state. They came to support it, to reinforce our capacity.— Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime
We fear that this armed conflict will claim even more victims, and displace even more people in the coming days.— Davina Hayles, MSF head of mission in Haiti
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Politics & Governance