By Rédaction Africanews with AP
El Salvador’s president released a video on Tuesday showing military helicopters firing rockets at what he said was the headquarters of one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs.
President Nayib Bukele said they had destroyed a home belonging to Wilson Joseph, the leader of 400 Mawozo group.
Joseph, better known as Lanmò San Jou, was not killed in Sunday’s attack.
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé commented on the video on X, saying he “salutes the commitment of the Salvadoran forces in the fight against gangs”.
“Hats off to President Nayib Bukele, for your support and commitment to the national fight against gangs,” he said.
The footage showed helicopters launching repeated strikes at houses in the Haitian countryside, sending plumes of smoke into the air and men fleeing the targeted buildings.
The offensive came days after Bukele asked for the location of Joseph’s house on the social platform X. Several accounts responded with what appeared to be precise coordinates.
“We kept our promise,” Bukele wrote as he shared the footage.
The Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti, on Tuesday said it was working with El Salvador in the fight against the gangs.
“We are collaborating with President Bukele and supporting him with logistics and intelligence,” said the President of Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader.
Abinader has pledged to keep monitoring the shared border via drones, soldiers and armoured vehicles and respond to any actions that might threaten the stability of his country.
El Salvador deployed troops to Haiti after four aviation technicians working on a United Nations-backed mission were attacked on 18 October in gang-controlled territory.
They remain missing.
Since then, El Salvador has deployed 2,500 soldiers to Haiti, with little information made public about their operations.
The Salvadoran forces are largely operating outside the framework of a UN-backed Multinational Gang Suppression Force, raising concerns over rules of engagement and coordination.
Haiti has struggled for years with powerful armed groups that have expanded their control amid a prolonged absence of effective state authority.
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