Translated from the original Spanish article. Read in Spanish
News published on October 25, 2026. The situation may have changed since then.
Four burned bodies turned up in Haiti. The New York Times said they could be the missing Salvadoran soldiers. And Nayib Bukele replied: "They are not our men."
Here we tell you what was found, what each side says and what could happen now.
What happened before
On October 18, gangs ambushed an armored vehicle with explosives in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince.
Inside were four Salvadoran aviation technicians, part of the UN-backed force fighting the gangs. They got out of the burning vehicle, and the gangs took them away.
Bukele wrote to the gangs in Haitian Creole and launched a rescue operation. According to the Wall Street Journal, he sent a hundred special forces soldiers. A Haitian newspaper puts the number as high as four hundred and fifty.
First: the discovery
On Saturday, October 24, The New York Times reported that the international force had recovered badly burned bodies.
Citing people close to the mission, it said they could be the four Salvadorans, and that forensic analysis was needed. The remains were to be handed over to the Salvadoran mission at Port-au-Prince airport.
Second: Bukele's response
A few hours later, Bukele wrote on X: "They are not our men."
According to him, the remains included a child, a man much taller than his technicians and a person wearing part of another army's uniform. He also posted the image of an ID card belonging to a citizen of Chad, which he said was among the remains. Chad also has soldiers in that international force.
The international force confirmed it had received the remains, but said there wasn't yet enough evidence to identify them.
So far, no one has confirmed whose bodies they are. And the four technicians are still missing.
Third: the gangs respond
A gang leader known as Krisla posted a video. He said the international force has more weapons and more technology, but that they will fight to the end.
And Wilson Joseph, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, appeared showing ammunition. He said he would wait for the Salvadorans and wouldn't flee the country.
Bukele responded by calling the gangs "satanic", and repeating that God will give them victory.
Fourth: what could happen now
A former Haitian special forces commander, retired colonel Himmler Rebu, was blunt: "They won't get results." He says foreign forces don't know the terrain, and that a week has already gone by without news of the technicians.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic deployed ten thousand troops on its border with Haiti, fearing the conflict could grow. And in El Salvador, the opposition presidential candidate is calling for the troops to be pulled out of Haiti.
Bukele, by contrast, insists: the only goal is to bring the four home alive.
This story is also a video
We explain it in a video on our channel (in Spanish). Subscribe for the story behind each headline.
Watch the video on YouTubeNow it's your turn: do you believe Bukele, or do you think those bodies are the soldiers'?
Tell us in the comments on the video.
Sources (in Spanish)
- The New York Times (24 de octubre de 2026), vía El Salvador.com, El Comercio y Latinus.
- Declaraciones de Nayib Bukele en X, vía Infobae, Listín Diario, El Observador CR, AP (The Washington Post) y Anadolu.
- Wall Street Journal (100 soldados) y Le Nouvelliste (hasta 450), vía Wikipedia (2026 Croix-des-Bouquets gang ambush).
- Videos de líderes de pandillas (Krisla y Wilson Joseph): Wikipedia, con base en medios haitianos.
- Coronel retirado Himmler Rebu (EFE) y despliegue dominicano en la frontera: France 24 (25 de octubre de 2026).
- Contexto: Al Jazeera, NPR y Euronews.
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under free licenses; the author and license are shown under each image.
