This report follows Awaaz Punjab's November 11 report that joint Haitian-Salvadoran forces destroyed the alleged headquarters of the 400 Mawozo gang and its leader's house. The stadium operation is a separate, later development: Haiti's national stadium is back under government control for the first time in two years, and El Salvador's president says it will now serve as a base for the next offensive. Read the earlier 400 Mawozo report
Haitian police said they have regained full control of the Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's national stadium, and handed security at the venue to Salvadoran soldiers, France 24 reported with AFP.
Source: France 24 / AFP, Nov 13, 2026
The stadium had been under gang control for two years, France 24 reported. The loss of the ground in 2024 forced Haiti's national football team to play its World Cup qualifiers in Curacao, away from home.
Source: France 24 / AFP, Nov 13, 2026
The Haitian National Police said the Haitian force and the government Task Force took the facility, after which Salvadoran soldiers were assigned to guard it, the Haitian Tribune reported. Le Nouvelliste reported that Salvadoran troops and vehicles were stationed inside the stadium on Thursday.
Source: The Haitian Tribune, Nov 13, 2026
Bukele: a base for the next offensive — and a warning
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said on X that the joint operation involved Haiti's National Police, the Haitian Armed Forces, the government Task Force and Salvadoran Special Forces, and was carried out under the bilateral agreement between the two governments. His post is the primary source for what he announced.
Source: Democrata, Nov 13, 2026
Bukele said the stadium will serve as an operational base from which the forces will move farther into gang-controlled territory, and he warned gang members to leave the area before the offensive begins, saying those who remain and fight would face the consequences, the Haitian Tribune and Democrata reported.
Source: The Haitian Tribune, Nov 13, 2026
Bukele also claimed that several human skulls were found inside the stadium during the operation. That claim has not been independently verified in the reporting available so far, the Haitian Tribune noted, and Haitian authorities have released no independent confirmation of any human remains. It is reported here only as the president's claim.
Source: The Haitian Tribune, Nov 13, 2026
How the deployment reached the stadium
The Salvadoran deployment began after four Salvadoran aviation technicians serving with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force went missing in an ambush on October 18. El Salvador has since sent more than 2,000 personnel to Haiti, and on November 8 Haitian police and Salvadoran soldiers destroyed a home of Wilson Joseph, known as Lanmo San Jou, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang; Bukele said on November 10 that the gang's headquarters had been destroyed.
Source: France 24 / AFP, Nov 13, 2026
The stadium retake comes days after the joint strike on the 400 Mawozo leadership, the previous major step in the same campaign. Read: joint strike destroys 400 Mawozo HQ
Oversight questions remain open
The United Nations has said most Salvadoran personnel in Haiti are operating outside the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force framework, raising questions about coordination, command and accountability, the Haitian Tribune reported.
Source: The Haitian Tribune, Nov 13, 2026
Amnesty International's Americas director, Ana Piquer, has called on both governments to publish the deployment agreement and explain oversight, the rules on the use of force, accountability and how people can report possible violations without fear of reprisals, and to ensure prompt, independent investigations of all allegations of human rights violations.
Source: Amnesty International, via AveNews, Nov 13, 2026
Authorities have not said when the threatened offensive from the stadium base will begin or how large it will be, and no details on arrests or casualties in the stadium operation have been released. Watch for a Haitian government statement on the base, any independent confirmation or denial of Bukele's claim about human remains, and whether the deployment agreement is published as Amnesty International has demanded.