Five Salvadoran Helicopters Arrive in Jimaní En Route to Haiti Operations
Five Salvadoran combat helicopters are now at the Dominican border with Haiti, amid the search for four kidnapped soldiers.
Key points
- The five helicopters of the Salvadoran Air Force arrived in Santo Domingo in the early hours of Wednesday, October 28.
- They were moved Thursday to the El Rodeo fortress in Jimaní, Independencia province.
- The aircraft are MD500 and MD530 models and arrived on a charter flight from San Salvador.
- Salvadoran authorities are searching for four military technicians kidnapped by gangs in Haiti.
Five combat helicopters of the Salvadoran Air Force arrived in the Dominican Republic in the early hours of Wednesday and were moved this Thursday to the El Rodeo fortress in Jimaní, Independencia province. A video provided to Diario Libre shows the aircraft parked at the fortress, in the border municipality with Haiti.
According to a source considered entirely credible by Diario Libre, the aircraft arrived on a cargo plane that landed at Las Américas International Airport (AILA) from El Salvador. The helicopters are MD500 and MD530 models and were transported on a charter flight operated by a Boeing 747-400 from the U.S. company National Airlines, code NCR880. The flight departed San Salvador on Tuesday, October 27, and landed in Santo Domingo at about 12:11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28.
The arrival comes amid the Salvadoran military deployment in Haiti. Haitian authorities are searching for four military technicians kidnapped after a gang ambush on October 18 in Croix-des-Bouquets, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
Dominican President Luis Abinader said he is in contact with his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, to coordinate logistical and intelligence support. The Dominican government explained that its cooperation with the international mission in Haiti includes facilitating the transit of contingents, medical evacuations, and the transfer of military equipment and cargo.
So far, it has not been publicly stated what specific role the five helicopters will play or when they would be moved into Haitian territory.
In a letter to the Haitian people published Thursday, Bukele said the deployment of troops and equipment is not an "invasion" but an effort to rescue the four soldiers who have been missing for 11 days.