US vows to bring home four missing Salvadoran soldiers after ambush in Haiti

The United States has pledged to support efforts to bring home four Salvadoran soldiers missing in Haiti after they were ambushed by armed gangs while traveling in an armored vehicle.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz condemned the attack during a UN Security Council meeting focused on Haiti’s security crisis. He said the United States and the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) remain committed to supporting the missing soldiers and warned criminal groups that they would not be allowed to operate with impunity.

“To the gang leaders terrorizing Haiti: your days of acting with impunity are numbered,” Waltz said. “And once again, a message to our four Salvadoran brothers: we have not forgotten you. The Gang Suppression Force is with you; the United States is with you, and we will bring you home.”

Waltz said there were reasons to believe the four soldiers survived the attack, although security forces had not yet determined their whereabouts.

“We believe all four men survived, but they remain missing,” the ambassador said.

He described the incident as a “horrific attack,” alleging that the gangs struck the armored vehicle with hundreds of bullets and explosives. The ambush also prompted the deployment of aerial support units.

Waltz warned that the assault would not deter international operations against armed groups threatening Haiti’s population.

“If the gangs and gang leaders who carried out this cowardly attack think they are going to intimidate this coalition into leaving, they have made a terrible mistake,” he said.

The ambassador acknowledged that armed gangs remain the main security threat in Haiti but stressed that defeating them is only part of the broader effort needed to restore stability. He said Haitians also need to regain a sense of normalcy in their daily lives.

“They are hungry for a normal life,” Waltz said.