Otherupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 4 January 2021Nayib Bukele Deploys Elite Forces To Confront Haitian Gangs After UN-Backed Attack
“drawing attention to whether a war-level gang eradication operation will unfold in Haiti.”
“It remains unclear who will command the new Salvadoran contingent, which arrived in a series of flights”
Photo: NASA / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
About 1,000 Salvadoran troops deployed to Haiti after four UN-backed force members disappeared. Command of the new contingent remains unclear.
Bukele sends troops
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele deployed elite forces to confront Haitian gangs after gangs attacked El Salvador’s military and left four Salvadoran members of a UN-backed force missing.
El Salvador sent around 1,000 soldiers to Haiti after the Oct. 18 ambush on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, and a security official in Haiti told Reuters that it was unclear who would command the new contingent.
The CBC reported that the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force had reached about 2,000 troops, just over a third of the planned size a year into its mandate, with limited impacts on Haitian security.
Reuters said a U.S. military official told it that the U.S. Southern Command provided C-130 military transport jets to partially help bring the Salvadoran troops to Haiti, while other flights between San Salvador and Port-au-Prince appeared on Flightradar24.
Threats and gang response
Bukele demanded the safe return of the missing soldiers and threatened a response "far stronger than anything seen before" if they were ignored.
The leader of the gang "400 Mawozo" held up a bucket filled with ammunition on camera and declared, "We have nowhere to go. If we must fight to survive, we will fight."
Reuters reported that Bukele said the missing Salvadorans were GSF air force technicians returning to base from a market and that he believed they were being held hostage by criminal groups.
Reuters also said no Haitian gang leader had taken responsibility for the attack, and it reported that gang leader Wilson Joseph of 400 Mawozo released videos denying holding the Salvadorans hostage and rejecting responsibility.
What is at stake
The UN approved the establishment of a multinational force in Haiti through a Security Council resolution, and the unit was named the Gang Suppression Force (GSF). The 조선일보 account said the GSF had only 2,000 personnel deployed, far below the target of 5,500, and it said the UN data showed over 5,700 people were killed or injured in gang-related violence or suppression efforts in Haiti from January to September this year.
The Reuters reporting cited by CBC said armed gangs had expanded their influence through extortion and brutal attacks that have displaced nearly 1.5 million people and battered Haiti's economy and institutions. The 조선일보 account said the Donald Trump administration designated "Viv Ansan," a coalition of two gangs based in Port-au-Prince, as a foreign terrorist organization last year, while it quoted Volker Türk saying, "Civilian casualties are growing increasingly severe."