What happened
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his troops destroyed a large house in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince, that he identified as the headquarters of Haiti’s 400 Mawozo gang. The operation followed an online exchange in which an X user posted a photograph of a property and Bukele asked for its exact address, promising to destroy it. Users responded with coordinates.
The strike took place on Sunday and involved Salvadoran forces alongside a Haitian police task force. Four helicopters participated, two flown by Salvadoran pilots, and the assault also used explosive drones and ground troops. The Miami Herald reported that twenty people died, citing unnamed sources.
Bukele posted video of helicopters firing on the house and wrote in Haitian Creole that the headquarters had been destroyed. He said most fighters fled without resisting. Haitian outlets offered conflicting accounts of the damage, with some reporting the house was destroyed and others describing a targeted strike. The Haitian Times said the competing versions could not be independently verified.
Pro-government Salvadoran media reported that gang leader Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmò San Jou, was not inside the house during the attack. The gang is known for kidnappings and extortion, according to Agence France-Presse.
El Salvador has deployed more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti since late October after four Salvadoran military personnel were ambushed and kidnapped. Bukele has described the mission as a search for the missing men and said he believes they remain alive. Most Salvadoran troops operate outside the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force, raising concerns about their rules of engagement. Amnesty International called on both governments to ensure the operations comply with international human rights law and to release the deployment agreement.