Nov. 11 (UPI) — El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said Salvadoran forces destroyed the headquarters of Haiti’s 400 Mawozo gang in an operation outside Port-au-Prince.
Bukele announced the attack Tuesday in a post on X accompanied by a video that showed helicopters flying over an area and firing at several structures.
The operation targeted a property believed to belong to Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmò San Jou, the leader of 400 Mawozo, one of Haiti’s major criminal gangs.
“We kept our promise. We destroyed Lanmò San Jou’s house and the headquarters of the 400 Mawozo gang,” Bukele wrote in Creole.
The president said most gang members fled without putting up a fight.
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé thanked Salvadoran troops and the international Gang Suppression Force, or GSF, for assistance in a post on X.
He said Haiti’s armed forces and international partners were helping his government strengthen operations on the ground, regain control of territory and restore state authority.
“I commend President Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) for his support and commitment to the national fight against gangs,” Fils-Aimé wrote.
“Haiti, El Salvador, GSF: The same fight, the same determination! Our cooperation will continue.”
According to media reports, the attack followed a post Thursday by an X user who shared photographs of a house believed to belong to the 400 Mawozo leader and urged the Salvadoran president to destroy it.
“Where is that house? Give us the exact address and we will destroy it,” Bukele replied the following day in Creole.
Other users subsequently shared coordinates for the property. On Tuesday, Bukele released footage of the attack and said his forces had fulfilled their promise, according to the Dominican digital news outlet El Testigo.
The attack occurred in Croix-des-Bouquets, east of the Haitian capital, where the gang operates.
The operation involved units of the Haitian National Police with support from Salvadoran troops. Explosive drones, ground forces and four armed helicopters, two displaying Salvadoran flags, were used, Infobae reported.
Bukele’s post did not specify when the attack occurred or provide information about casualties or arrests. The Miami Herald reported that the operation occurred Sunday.
The extent of the damage to the facilities has not been independently confirmed.
The offensive followed El Salvador’s deployment of more than 2,000 troops to Haiti to search for four Salvadoran military personnel who disappeared Oct. 18 during an ambush attributed to criminal groups.
The United Nations confirmed the additional deployment and clarified that most Salvadoran troops were not part of the Gang Suppression Force, an international mission authorized by the U.N. Security Council.
U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Nov. 3 that approximately 200 Salvadoran personnel were operating under the mission’s mandate and were subject to its oversight mechanisms.
The deployment also has raised concerns among human rights organizations.
In a statement released Monday, Amnesty International called on the Haitian and Salvadoran governments to disclose the agreement that governs the Salvadoran military presence and ensure that operations comply with international law.
“Both governments must make public the agreement authorizing the deployment and explain how they oversee the deployed forces, what rules govern the use of force, to whom they are accountable and how people can report possible violations without fear of reprisals,” said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas director.
Amnesty International also called for clarification of the whereabouts of the four missing Salvadoran service members and demanded their immediate and safe release if they are being held by an armed group.