El Salvador sends 100 special forces in search of Haiti

Angry at Haitian gangs who ambushed four Salvadoran soldiers, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele deployed 100 special forces soldiers to Haiti on Thursday to join the search for the men who were shot by armed gangs on Sunday, the Miami Herald has learned.

“This is just the beginning,” said a source close to the deployment, while a second source said an additional 100 Salvadoran troops could be deployed to Port-au-Prince.

Bukele announced in a statement on X on Wednesday that there would be a deployment of additional troops to Haiti, but did not provide details. Sources said at the time that negotiations were still ongoing over what form the deployment would take. Salvadoran troops operate under the command of the United Nations-authorized Gang Suppression Force.

The men were shopping at a supermarket in the Santo 19 neighborhood when they returned to the camp and attacked. Their disappearance marks the first major incident for the international armed force since it began deploying to Haiti with Chadian soldiers in April. This is also the first case where soldiers were ambushed while not fighting.

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The men, assigned to an air unit of the anti-gang force, were traveling in an armored white Toyota Land Cruiser when they were surrounded by heavily armed members of the Chen Mechan gang. After riddled the vehicle with bullets and receiving support from the 400 Mawozo gang, the armed men set the vehicle on fire with an explosive device, several sources told the Herald.

El Salvador’s armed forces said in a statement that the men managed to escape. But they are still missing since Sunday and search operations continue.

María Fernanda Arocha, Central America research manager at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, which monitors Haiti’s gang warfare, said the attack on foreign soldiers demonstrates how gangs continue to adapt their tactics, further threatening Haiti’s already fragile political transition.

“Haitian gangs have intensified their violence as they are increasingly willing and able to confront international forces directly,” she added.

At least one gang leader, named Krisla, reacted to the Salvadoran deployment. In a video circulating online, he said Haiti belonged to Jean-Jacques Dessalines — a reference to the former slave turned national hero who led the Haitian revolution against the French in the early 1800s — and that if Salvadoran forces came to fight, they would fight. Krisla controls Carrefour, a community west of Port-au-Prince that has been under gang control for more than two years.

Another video began circulating online Thursday showing a visibly tired and disheveled gang leader, Lanmo San Jou. It is unclear when exactly the leader of the gang, which controls large swathes of eastern Port-au-Prince, recorded the video.

Lanmo San Jou, real name Wilson Joseph, is now part of the Chen Mechan gang. He is one of the gang leaders wanted by the FBI in connection with the kidnapping of American citizens, including a group of missionaries. His gang is part of the Viv Ansanm coalition, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

In the video, Lanmo San Jou mentions owning automatic rifles and turns the camera toward buckets filled with what he describes as high-powered ammunition. He also suggests that he has nowhere to go and that he and his men will fight if necessary. His tone seemed different from the arrogant appearance he displayed in recent weeks, when he hosted live TikTok sessions from his lavish mansion.

“Where should we go? Uh? Where should we go?” he said in Creole. “We have nowhere to go, General. Understood? If we have to fight to stay alive, we will fight.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 4:30 p.m..