Bukele says Salvadoran troops destroyed gang HQ in Haiti

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele at a past event. [AFP]

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Tuesday that his troops had destroyed the "headquarters" of the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti, one of the country's largest criminal organizations.

The attack is the first against a target since Bukele deployed more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti in late October after four Salvadoran troops went missing in the country.

"We destroyed the house of (gang leader) Lanmo San Jou and the 400 Mawozo gang's headquarters," he wrote on X.

The right-wing leader posted a video of helicopters circling overhead and firing on the site in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince.

The US newspaper Miami Herald reported that the attack, conducted by Haitian police with support from Salvadoran troops, took place on Sunday.

Twenty people died, it wrote on Monday, citing anonymous sources.

Gang warfare and political chaos have long plagued Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.

The vast majority of recently deployed Salvadoran soldiers are not participating in the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), raising concerns about their rules of engagement.

Bukele initially stated the deployment aimed at bringing home four Salvadoran GSF soldiers who went missing during an ambush attack on October 18.

But more recently, he has hinted at a broader goal of eliminating Haiti's powerful gangs, as he did in his own country with a campaign pockmarked with allegations of rights abuses.

Amnesty International on Monday urged both countries to ensure that all operations conducted by Salvadoran forces in Haiti comply with international human rights law.

The thousands of Salvadoran troops flown into Haiti since last month have effectively doubled the contingent of foreign soldiers operating there.

The Caribbean island nation is set to hold elections in July and October next year, marking its first polls in more than a decade.