Salvadoran troops target Haitian gang, leaving 20 dead

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said that Salvadoran troops have targeted one of Haiti’s largest criminal organisations. It comes amid international calls to respect international human rights law. “We destroyed the house of [gang leader] Lanmo San Jou and the 400 Mawozo gang’s headquarters,” the right-wing leader wrote.

Bukele posted a video of helicopters circling overhead and firing on the site in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince. The operation was reportedly conducted on Sunday by Haitian police with support from Salvadoran troops, and resulted in the killing of 20 people. The announcement comes as Haiti’s prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aime, prepares to visit El Salvador next week to discuss the future of Salvadoran troops in his gang-plagued Caribbean nation.

Amnesty International has urged both countries to ensure that all operations conducted by Salvadoran forces in Haiti comply with international human rights law, and called on them to release the agreement governing the mass deployment.