Haitian police retake national stadium from gangs after two years

Haitian police and a government security group have retaken control of the country’s main stadium, which gangs had held for two years. The operation is part of a wider security deployment involving Salvadoran troops, who are now guarding the venue.

Sylvio Cator Stadium, which holds 10,000 people, fell under gang control in 2024, forcing Haiti’s national football team to play World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele ordered about 2,000 soldiers to Haiti after four Salvadoran troops went missing following an ambush in October; the Salvadoran deployment is separate from the UN-backed multinational force.