El Salvador Launches Rescue Operation After Four Soldiers Abducted in Haiti; Bukele Warns Gangs

Four members of El Salvador's military were abducted Sunday in Haiti, and President Nayib Bukele announced a military operation to rescue them. In a message posted to X in Haitian Creole, Bukele told gang leaders and members that the four are aviation technicians, not combatants, serving in a mission of pilots and technical staff whose main job is medical evacuations. He said they were seized while returning from buying food at a market. They were in Haiti as part of the United Nations-backed international Gang Suppression Force. Salvadoran officials first said the men had escaped an ambush on their armored vehicle on foot, but Bukele later confirmed they were being held hostage. Bukele said the objective is to bring all four home alive and unharmed, and he threatened a larger operation if they are not returned safely, saying El Salvador has finished with its own gangs and can do the same to Haiti's.

Alternative / independent outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing; left-leaning and right-leaning outlets had. The New York Times, on the left, leads with the abduction and Bukele's harsh warning and demand for the soldiers' return. The Blaze and Daily Wire, on the right, foreground Bukele's threat to escalate and his quoted words, and the Daily Wire adds the mission and ambush details.