US strike on an alleged drug boat kills 3 in the eastern Pacific Ocean
The White House said the follow-up strike was done in self-defense after the boat was destroyed, while critics said the military offered little evidence.
- On Thursday, the U.S. military attacked a boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing three people suspected of smuggling drugs, marking the 65th known operation by Joint Task Force Southern Spear.
- President Donald Trump justifies these strikes as necessary escalation in an "armed conflict" with cartels; the administration has targeted vessels since September, alleging they operate designated terrorist organizations.
- Critics, including the United Nations, argue the strikes constitute unlawful extrajudicial killings, as the administration provides little evidence of drug-trafficking involvement; the death toll now reaches at least 211 people.
- Senators demanded the Pentagon release "unedited video" of strikes, as the Senate Armed Services Committee advanced a defense bill requiring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit unredacted investigations.
- Prof Ben Saul, the U.N. special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, condemned the killing on Thursday, calling on States to "break their silence and jointly denounce these murders" since September 2025.
68 Articles
68 Articles
The US military attacked a vessel suspected of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific, as part of a months-long campaign by the administration of President Donald Trump against alleged smugglers in Latin America, and in the latest attack three people were killed.
The US military claims the vessel was transporting drugs, while critics question the legality of the operations.
Hyper-militarized 'war on narco-terror' is not stopping drug flows
For the past year, the Trump administration has undertaken a lethal campaign of strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 200 people. It could soon gain a major new ally in this fight in Colombia, where the leading candidate in Sunday's presidential elections has promised to break with his dovish predecessor and wage an all-out war on drug trafficking.As a regional war on drugs takes shape, there is no …
On Thursday, the U.S. Army killed three men in a new bombing of a ship in eastern Pacific waters that linked to drug trafficking, in line with the history of justifications for its so-called South Launch operation. This was announced on social networks by the U.S. Armed Forces’ Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), reporting on the “lethal kinetic attack against a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations.” “Intelligence confirmed that the ve…
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