October 26, 2026
The Armed Forces of El Salvador confirmed, Monday, October 19, 2026, the disappearance of four of their soldiers deployed in Haiti within the Gang Suppression Force (FRG in French), after an attack that occurred the previous day in the Santo sector, in Croix-des-Bouquets. This announcement provides an important clarification on the consequences of the ambush, while the FRG’s first communiqué had reported the attack without mentioning the disappearance of members of the foreign contingent.
According to the version communicated by the Salvadoran army, the four aeronautical technicians of Task Force Libertad II were returning to their camp aboard an armored vehicle when they were targeted by heavily armed men. The assailants used firearms and explosives, causing violent clashes and the vehicle catching fire, but the soldiers managed to get out, the institution specifies.
Helicopters were then mobilized to support operations and repel the armed groups present in the area, but the aircraft also came under fire. Attempts to approach by land and air were complicated by the intensity of the fighting, so far preventing the forces engaged from re-establishing contact with the four men.
Searches continue in coordination with the FRG command and the other international contingents deployed in Haiti in order to determine the location of the soldiers and establish contact with them. At this stage, the Salvadoran authorities have not communicated their names or specified their exact situation, leaving complete uncertainty about their fate in an area marked by the grip of armed groups.
