A search was under way Monday for four Salvadoran soldiers missing after gangs ambushed their armored vehicle in Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of the capital, on Sunday - the most serious attack yet on the Gang Suppression Force, the UN-backed multinational mission that formally launched operations in Haiti earlier this month.
What happened
Sunday's ambush hit an armored vehicle carrying Salvadoran aviation technicians through Croix-des-Bouquets, a commune northeast of the capital. The attackers used firearms and explosive devices and set the vehicle on fire, El Salvador's ambassador to the United Nations, Egriselda Lopez, told the Security Council on Monday. The soldiers escaped the burning vehicle, but four of them remained missing as of Monday evening, with international forces searching.
The Gang Suppression Force, or GSF, formally launched operations on October 8 with a flag-raising ceremony at the Vertieres military base in Tabarre, attended by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime. "The State must regain control of its territory," he said. Contingents from Guatemala, El Salvador, Chad, Mongolia, Jamaica and Sri Lanka were represented at the launch.
Deployment is still in its early stages. As of October 12, the force had 1,563 uniformed personnel on the ground - barely a quarter of the 5,550 the Security Council has authorized, the UN said Monday. The force established a base in Gonaives, in the Artibonite department, in August, and on September 28 ran its first operation beyond the capital, clashing with the Kokorat San Ras gang in Gros-Morne. Three people died in the clash; after the force withdrew, gang members killed at least ten residents in retaliation, according to the conflict-monitoring group ACLED.
The context
The GSF is the second international force sent to Haiti in two years. The first, the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission, began arriving in June 2024 but remained under-resourced and struggled to operate beyond the capital, where armed groups control large areas. On September 30, 2025, the Security Council voted 12-0, with China, Pakistan and Russia abstaining, to replace it with the Gang Suppression Force, backed by a dedicated UN logistics office. On September 29 of this year, the council renewed the force's mandate for six months, through the end of March 2027.
The violence it is meant to stop is staggering. Between July and early October, 1,123 Haitians were killed and 440 injured in gang-related violence, the UN said, and nearly 1.5 million people have fled their homes, including more than 740,000 children. Gangs are adapting to the pressure, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN's top official in Haiti, told the council - stepping up reprisals against civilians and spreading into rural areas.
The political clock is stuck as well. Presidential and legislative elections planned for December 13 were postponed indefinitely this month; Haiti has not held a national election since 2016, and only about 759,000 voters had registered out of an estimated electorate of 6.5 million. Security force operations now account for just over half of those killed or wounded since July - 808 people, including 148 with no gang ties, the UN said.
What comes next
The immediate questions are whether the missing soldiers are found and whether the force can grow toward its authorized strength. ACLED's analysts warn that operations like the one in Gros-Morne can clear territory but cannot hold it without a sustained presence, leaving civilians exposed to exactly the kind of retaliation that followed that raid. The force's biggest test, the group says, will be whether it can contain gang violence enough for voting to take place safely.
Ruiz Massieu made a similar argument to the council: "Experience has shown that security operations alone cannot bring about lasting stabilisation." Setting new election dates without a realistic assessment, he warned, would only erode public confidence. Haiti's second international force formally launched operations ten days ago. It is already missing its first soldiers.
Xavier Willis
October 20, 2026