Croix-des-Bouquets: Salvadoran helicopters repel a gang attack on Chadian soldiers of the Gang Suppression Force, Bukele says

Salvadoran combat helicopters intervened on Tuesday, November 3, to repel armed gangs that were attacking Chadian soldiers of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said on X. "The gangs were attacking GSF soldiers from Chad. We arrived quickly and repelled the attackers with our attack helicopters," he wrote, according to Infobae. "The gangs no longer have the upper hand," he added.

According to El Diario de Hoy, the clash took place in the Croix-des-Bouquets area, where gunfire was heard from the aircraft and flashes were seen in the sky. Neither newspaper reports any casualties, and neither the GSF nor the United Nations had commented publicly on the operation. The exact location and the toll have not been independently confirmed.

More than 2,000 Salvadoran soldiers in Haiti

El Salvador has deployed more than 2,000 troops to Haiti since four Salvadoran aviation technicians working in support of the GSF went missing on October 18, both newspapers note. Salvadoran authorities say the men could still be alive. In a second message, Nayib Bukele said El Salvador was "on the same side" as Haitians and would help them "take back the country" from those he called traitors to the legacy of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, according to El Diario de Hoy.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said at a press conference that the Haitian state keeps the leadership of the foreign forces in the country. "The international force is not here to replace the State. It is here to support us," he said, according to the Associated Press, cited by Infobae. He said more than 1,000 new police officers had completed their training.