Heavily armed criminal gangs ambushed members of an international security force in Haiti, and four Salvadoran troops were missing after fleeing their burning armoured vehicle near Port-au-Prince, authorities told the UN Security Council on Monday, Reuters reported. The Associated Press described it as the first major attack since the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force began operations in the country.

The attack took place on Sunday in Santo, in the Croix-des-Bouquets area of the capital, as the four Salvadoran aviation technicians were returning to camp. El Salvador's military said the armoured vehicle was attacked with explosives and set on fire and that all four men escaped the burning vehicle. Salvadoran helicopters sent to reach the area also came under fire. "There have been multiple attempts to reach the area by land and air, but these have been hampered by the intensity of the fighting and the security conditions in the area," El Salvador's armed forces said in a statement. A spokesman for the force, Igor Rugwiza, told Reuters the mission was still searching for the four amid heavy fighting, and reports that they had been captured or killed remained unverified.

At the UN Security Council meeting in New York, US Ambassador Mike Waltz said the vehicle was hit by "hundreds of bullets and explosives" and said of the missing men: "We believe the four men survived, but they do remain unaccounted for. We will bring you home." UN Secretary-General's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric condemned the attack and called for the soldiers' immediate and safe release, Reuters reported. The force advised residents near Santo, an area where the Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo armed groups hold sway, to stay indoors until further notice.

The Gang Suppression Force, authorised by the UN Security Council in 2025 to help Haiti's police fight gang violence, has grown to about 2,000 personnel but remains well short of its 5,500 target, its special representative Jack Christofides told the Security Council, adding that hostile incidents against its units had risen from two to fifteen in a single month. Reuters reported that gang conflict in Haiti has killed more than 21,000 people in the last four years and forced nearly 1.5 million people to flee their homes.

Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; Sky News; El Salvador armed forces statement; United Nations.