El Salvador president says bodies found in Haiti are not those of hostages

What the report says

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said four bodies handed to Salvadoran forces in Haiti were not the missing men his government had been trying to recover. According to the BBC, the remains were delivered to a military mission sent to Haiti after four Salvadoran air technicians vanished last week following an ambush by heavily armed groups. Bukele said the bodies included a child’s remains and another person in a foreign army uniform, and that the evidence did not match the Salvadorans.

The men had been serving with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force in Haiti, which is meant to help confront the country’s escalating gang violence. They were travelling in an armoured vehicle back to their camp in the Croix-des-Bouquets area when they were attacked. No group has claimed responsibility. Bukele had previously said the mission’s purpose was to bring the men home alive.

The BBC reported that the Salvadoran deployment to Haiti involved hundreds of soldiers, with about 450 reportedly sent so far. Bukele also posted images of identification cards, including documents he said linked the remains to other nationalities, adding skepticism to earlier reporting that the bodies found near Port-au-Prince might belong to the missing hostages.

The case comes against the backdrop of severe gang violence in Haiti, where the security crisis has deepened since the 2021 assassination of the president. The BBC said the multinational force has struggled to gain ground in gang-held areas.