Haiti Prime Minister says gang leader Mathias Saintil is dead

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime announced the development on Friday, saying there was "one less gang leader" as authorities intensify efforts to dismantle armed groups operating across the country.

"The fight to free the country from the grip of bandits continues with determination," Fils-Aime added in a post on X.

A report by the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights, seen by Reuters, said Saintil sustained serious abdominal injuries during a drone strike in Boston on Thursday night. He reportedly died the following day while receiving treatment.

His death marks one of the biggest blows to Haiti's gang leadership since 2024 and comes amid an intensified security campaign involving Haitian authorities and newly deployed Salvadoran troops.

El Salvador sent more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti to support a search operation for four Salvadoran soldiers who went missing after an ambush on October 18.

The four were serving in the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) when attackers targeted their armoured vehicle as they returned to base from a market outside Port-au-Prince.

El Salvador's Foreign Ministry said the additional troops would support a large-scale operation to rescue the missing soldiers, working alongside forces already deployed to Haiti.

The new deployment is supporting search efforts in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac area near Port-au-Prince.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also spoke with Fils-Aime on Wednesday about the rescue mission. Bukele had earlier threatened to wipe out Haiti's gangs, drawing comparisons with his government's crackdown on criminal groups in El Salvador, if the missing soldiers were not released.

The security campaign comes as Haiti seeks to restore stability ahead of elections that have been delayed amid persistent gang violence.

Some Haitians have expressed support for the Salvadoran deployment and Bukele's hard-line approach to organised crime, with pro-Bukele demonstrations reported in parts of the country on Friday.