Salvadoran and Haitian forces used rifle-mounted robot dogs in an operation to retake Haiti’s national stadium from gang control, according to video released this week by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. The joint operation secured the Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince on November 12, ending more than two years of gang control over the ground.
Bukele posted video showing soldiers fitting rifles onto four-legged robots inside the stadium, and the machines moving down hallways and up stairs with the weapons mounted on top. The footage has drawn international attention because it appears to show armed consumer-style robot dogs being used in a live military operation for the first time.
What the video does and does not show
It remains unclear exactly how the robots assisted in the operation. The published footage shows them carrying rifles and moving through the facility, but it does not independently establish that they fired weapons or engaged gang members. Open-source analysts have identified the machines as China-made Unitree Go2 quadrupeds, a consumer platform sold publicly from about $1,600, though that identification rests on open-source analysis rather than an official manifest.
The operation was carried out under a bilateral agreement between the Haitian government and El Salvador, involving the Haitian National Police, the Haitian Armed Forces, a government task force and Salvadoran special forces. Bukele said troops found “several human skulls” inside the stadium during the sweep, a claim that has not been independently confirmed by a second organisation and for which no forensics report exists.
A base for the next push
“We will now establish an operational base at the stadium so we can continue advancing deeper into territory controlled by the gangs,” Bukele wrote on X, adding that his forces now have “the upper hand on the ground.” Gangs had held the 10,000-seat stadium since February 2024, forcing Haiti’s national team to play its World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao on the way to reaching the 2026 World Cup.
Bukele had demanded gang members leave the area before the offensive began, warning that those who chose to resist would face consequences. Cracking down on gangs has been a hallmark of his presidency since he took office in 2019. About 2,000 Salvadoran troops and special forces arrived in Haiti in October, nominally to rescue four Salvadorans ambushed on October 18 and still missing, operating alongside a UN-backed Gang Suppression Force whose coordination lines have raised concern among analysts.
