El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele stated on Saturday that recent reports regarding human remains found in Haiti do not correspond to four missing Salvadoran military aviation technicians. The technicians vanished on October 18 after their armored vehicle was ambushed by gunmen in Croix-des-Bouquets, a region known for gang activity near Port-au-Prince.
Bukele’s comments came after a report from The New York Times claimed that four bodies believed to be those of the missing technicians had been recovered. He clarified on the social media platform X that the remains included a child and a man taller than the missing technicians, as well as a person wearing part of a foreign military uniform. The president noted that identification cards and uniforms from other countries were also recovered.
Scott Reece, a former US State Department security official with the humanitarian organization Hero Client Rescue, confirmed that his team retrieved the remains and transported them to an international airport for handover to a Salvadoran military team. He described the situation by stating, “We were called as a neutral humanitarian medical team to go pick up the remains.”
Search for Missing Technicians
The four technicians were part of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), an international security mission supported by the UN Security Council, and were engaged in tasks that included transportation and medical evacuations. Following the ambush, El Salvador sent hundreds of additional personnel to aid in the search effort. The United States provided logistical support using a C-130 military aircraft.
The Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo gangs have been implicated in the ambush, although the specifics of the incident remain unclear. Since April, the GSF has faced challenges in reaching its target deployment of 5,500 personnel amid escalating gang violence in Haiti.
Additionally, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader announced on X that he has been coordinating with Bukele regarding intelligence and logistical operations aimed at combating gangs in Haiti. He emphasized the importance of border security for the Dominican Republic, stating that authorities have increased surveillance with military reinforcements, armored vehicles, drones, and aircraft. Abinader assured that criminal gangs have not approached the Dominican border and that constant monitoring is in place to protect citizens.
As of Saturday, the identities of the remains recovered in Haiti have not been independently verified, and the location of the four missing Salvadoran technicians continues to be unknown.
