cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/53679589

-About 1,000 Salvadorans in Haiti days after gang attack

-Four Salvadorans remain missing after ambush

-Missing team were part of UN-backed mission

-Leadership, length of deployment remain unclear

Oct 27 (Reuters) - El Salvador has sent about 1,000 troops to Haiti after four Salvadoran members of a UN-backed security mission went missing in a gang ambush on the outskirts of the capital on October 18, a security official in Haiti told Reuters ‌on Tuesday.

The troops' arrival aboard flights in recent days dramatically expands the Central American nation's role in Haiti's long-standing gang conflict. Yet it remains unclear who will command the new Salvadoran contingent, how long it will stay in Haiti or whether more forces will follow.

Neither the Haitian nor Salvadoran government immediately responded to requests for comment. The official in Haiti spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the security situation.

The deployment comes as the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force has reached about 2,000 personnel, just over a third of its planned strength a year into its mandate, with little improvement in Haiti's security.

Armed gangs in Haiti have meanwhile ⁠expanded their influence over the capital and surrounding regions through extortion and brutal attacks that have displaced nearly 1.5 million people.