Salvadoran and Haitian forces targeted a property linked to the 400 Mawozo gang in Croix-des-Bouquets on Sunday, Nov. 8, in an operation that El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said destroyed the group’s headquarters.
Bukele announced the claim on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and posted video showing helicopters firing at a large compound as people ran from the site. He said the operation also destroyed the home of gang leader Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmò San Jou. The Associated Press reported that Joseph’s home was destroyed; Bukele identified the property as the gang’s headquarters.
The strike was the first Salvadoran military action against a target in Haiti since more than 2,000 Salvadoran troops were deployed there last month. The deployment followed the Oct. 18 abduction of four Salvadoran technicians who were working with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force, according to the Associated Press.
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé thanked El Salvador for its support against gangs and said the two countries would continue working with the international force to restore state authority, the BBC reported.
Questions over the Salvadoran mission
Bukele has said his forces will pressure the gangs until the four technicians are brought home. Critics have questioned whether all Salvadoran troops in Haiti operate within the command structure of the international force, and raised concerns about the legality of their actions.
Amnesty International has urged Haiti and El Salvador to ensure that operations by Salvadoran forces comply with international human rights law. The 400 Mawozo gang is known for kidnappings, extortion, killings and arms trafficking.
Reid Bentley 
Nicole French