Bukele rejects UNA-Haiti allegations that Salvadoran forces bombed civilians in Haiti

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Saturday, October 31, rejected allegations by the group UNA-Haiti that Salvadoran forces deployed in Haiti bombed civilian neighbourhoods near Port-au-Prince. "Bombs? Our mission doesn't even have bombs at its disposal," he wrote on X, according to several Salvadoran and international outlets.

Despite its name, UNA-Haiti (United Nations Association-Haiti) is not part of the United Nations. The EFE news agency describes it as an advocacy group linked to the Haitian diaspora. Its founder, Harvey Dupiton, who is from Croix-des-Bouquets, signed an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Outlets disagree on the date of the letter, placing it between October 28 and October 30.

What UNA-Haiti alleges

According to the letter, as reported by EFE, Anadolu and teleSUR, Salvadoran troops have since October 22 carried out aerial bombardments, helicopter gunship attacks and heavy-weapons assaults in densely populated neighbourhoods of Croix-des-Bouquets, Canaan and the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. The organisation says civilians, including children, have been killed. "Children are being killed not by gangs, but by foreign bombs," it wrote, according to teleSUR (translated from Spanish). No death toll is given.

UNA-Haiti asks the UN for an independent investigation into civilian deaths attributed to Salvadoran forces, a public order to halt offensive operations, and a Security Council clarification of the limits of the mission's mandate. It also argues that the operations take place outside the command structure of the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

Bukele's answer

On X, Nayib Bukele said the Salvadoran attack helicopters only arrived in Haiti on October 29, after the date of the NGO's report, and had not flown a single mission at the time of his reply. He attached a screenshot of the letter and accused NGOs of "lying with total impunity" while wielding great influence over international organisations, calling them "lobbying firms for criminals and cartels."

The allegations of airstrikes have not been independently verified, the Anadolu agency notes. None of the sources consulted confirms the alleged attacks or casualties.

El Salvador has deployed more than 2,000 troops in Haiti to find four Salvadoran aviation technicians serving with the GSF, missing since a gang ambush on October 18 in the Croix-des-Bouquets area, and to fight the gangs. Nayib Bukele presents the operation as a rescue mission.