El Salvador Sends 100 Special Forces to Haiti to Find Four Soldiers Missing After Gang Ambush

El Salvador deployed 100 special forces soldiers to Haiti on Thursday to help rescue four missing Salvadoran soldiers who came under gang attack, two officials told The Associated Press. President Nayib Bukele announced on Wednesday a military operation to free the four Air Force personnel, who disappeared in a weekend ambush. In a social media post in Haitian Creole, Bukele said the four aviation technicians are hostages, not combatants, and were seized while returning from buying food at a market. He said El Salvador's contingent in the U.N. Security Council-approved Gang Suppression Force consists of pilots and technical staff handling medical evacuations. Bukele said the sole goal is to bring them home unharmed, and warned gang leaders that the attack is nothing compared to what will come if the hostages are not returned alive.

The alternative source, AP, leads with the special forces deployment and cites two officials. The left-leaning New York Times presents the ambush as the first crisis for a force already off to a rocky start. The right-leaning Breitbart leads with Bukele's declaration and quotes his warning to gangs at length.