US EditionUS Military Used Civilian-Looking Aircraft in First Boat Strike, Raising War Crime Concerns: NYT
The Pentagon's Sept. 2, 2025 strike killed 11 using a military plane disguised as a civilian aircraft, sparking war crime allegations and a campaign of at least 35 boat attacks killing 123 people.
- On September 2, 2025, the Pentagon carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean Sea that killed 11 people, President Donald Trump announced with a social media post.
- The White House defended the strikes as targeting narcotics trafficking and violent cartel activity, saying they complied with the law of armed conflict.
- Officials said the aircraft transmitted a military tail number and munitions were carried inside the fuselage, while amateur enthusiasts posted photos of a white, blue-striped modified 737 at St. Croix.
- Legal specialists privately flagged potential war-law violations as Major General Steven Lepper and law-of-war experts said concealment could be `perfidy`; Members of Congress raised questions in closed-door briefings.
- Broad campaign figures show the U.S. military boat-strike campaign has killed at least 123 people in 35 attacks, and the military has switched to MQ-9 Reaper drones for later strikes.
151 Articles
151 Articles
Military plane part of secretive, classified fleet used in first Caribbean boat strike
The aircraft used in the US military’s first strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a strike which has drawn intense scrutiny and resulted in numerous Congressional briefings, was painted as a civilian aircraft and was part of a closely guarded classified program, sources familiar with the program told CNN. Its use “immediately drew scrutiny and real concerns” from lawmakers, one of the sources familiar said, and legislators began askin
Pentagon Conducted Lethal Boat Strike With Aircraft Disguised as Civilian Plane
The U.S.’s already highly contested September 2 strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea was reportedly carried out by an aircraft that the military disguised as a civilian plane, seemingly using the practice of perfidy, a war crime. The initial attack in the U.S.’s boat strike campaign was carried out by a plane that was painted to look like a civilian aircraft — lacking the grey color and… Source
Associated Press News
Plane used in boat strike off Venezuela was painted to look like a civilian aircraft, AP sources say
The plane used by the U.S. military to strike an alleged drug-smuggling boat off Venezuela last fall was painted to look like a civilian aircraft.
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