Haitian Security Alert!
Port-au-Prince, Oct 19 (EFE).-
The United States Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert Monday urging American citizens in the country to avoid an area on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince where a vehicle carrying four Salvadoran members of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) was ambushed the previous day. The soldiers’ whereabouts remain unknown.
The attack took place in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets, a commune about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the Haitian capital. It “triggered an exchange of gunfire in which GSF personnel responded with helicopter support.”
“Intense and sustained clashes have been reported between gangs and security forces in the vicinity of Santo, in Croix-des-Bouquets. Roads may be blocked or impassable. U.S. citizens are advised to exercise extreme caution and avoid the area,” the embassy in Port-au-Prince said.
The Salvadoran government confirmed that four of its military aviation technicians serving with the GSF were missing after Sunday’s ambush on the armored vehicle in which they were traveling.
Other Salvadoran personnel serving with Task Force Libertad II “continue to work jointly with the command of the Gang Suppression Force and international forces to establish contact and determine the whereabouts of the soldiers,” according to the government.
The GSF, which reported the attack late Sunday and said it was carried out by suspected members of armed gangs that control much of Port-au-Prince, did not mention the Salvadoran soldiers’ disappearance and has issued no further statement on the ambush.
The Haitian government, led by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, has also made no public comment on the attack, leaving the fate of the Salvadoran soldiers uncertain more than 24 hours after the ambush.
The GSF was authorized by the U.N. Security Council in 2025 to combat armed gangs and help stabilize Haiti. Its mandate was extended on Sept. 29.
“Armed gangs continue to challenge state authority and inflict violence on the population,” U.N. special representative for Haiti Carlos Ruiz Massieu told a Security Council meeting Monday in New York.
At the same meeting, GSF special representative Jack Christofides said that “removing gangs from an area is an important step, but it is not an end in itself,” adding that “the ultimate test is whether security gains can be consolidated and sustained.”
Violence and political instability have also cast doubt on Haiti’s presidential and legislative elections, which have been postponed several times in recent years. The elections had been scheduled for Dec. 13, but that date is now uncertain after the Provisional Electoral Council postponed the campaign and announced that it would issue a new electoral calendar, which has not yet been published.
The U.N. on Monday called for a “realistic” electoral timetable for Haiti, warning that setting new election dates without assessing whether they are feasible “will only erode public trust and the credibility of institutions” in a country where gang violence has killed thousands and displaced nearly 1.5 million people. EFE
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