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US military says it killed 11 people in strikes on three alleged drug boats

The U.S. military’s campaign has killed at least 145 alleged narco-terrorists since September, aiming to disrupt drug trafficking along known smuggling routes, officials said.

  • On Monday night, U.S. Southern Command said it struck three alleged drug‑trafficking vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, killing 11 people.
  • The White House told Congress that President Donald Trump has determined the U.S. is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels, with SOUTHCOM saying `Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.`
  • SOUTHCOM posted videos showing boats being destroyed, including a 39‑second video clip of two stationary vessels and one moving vessel, with strikes directed by Marine Corps Gen. Francis Donovan, SOUTHCOM commander.
  • Legal and congressional critics say the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings and have alarmed congressional critics despite U.S. lawmakers allowing them without prior approval.
  • Combined with previous strikes, the campaign that began in early September has brought the reported death toll of at least 145 people, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this month some cartels have ceased operations.
Insights by Ground AI

100 Articles

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The new attacks come after the march of the aircraft carrier ‘Gerald Ford’, which since October was part of the South Launch mission against drug trafficking

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Lanza del Sur has not lost its aim, despite the fact that the fall of Nicolás Maduro and the government teledirected in Caracas from Washington provoked a kind of truce, about...

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As in most of the reports on the more than 40 attacks carried out last year, the South Command stated that the actions had as target alleged drug trafficking

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Telemundo 20 broke the news in on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
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