The US military said it killed two people in an attack on a suspected drug trafficking ship in the eastern Pacific on Monday. This means the death toll has risen to at least 170 since the attacks began last September.
This was said by the US Southern Command, which is responsible for Washington’s forces in the region Post on X that “the ship was traveling on known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was involved in drug trafficking operations.”
“Two male narco-terrorists were killed in this operation. No U.S. forces were harmed,” the post said.
CBS News reached out to U.S. Southern Command for evidence of the ship’s drug-terror operations.
A spokesperson responded that before any operation they rely on “a rigorous intelligence gathering and analysis process, which may include intelligence from multiple sources, surveillance and reconnaissance to confirm illegal activity.”
“In this case, the vessel in question was identified through coordinated intelligence efforts as operating on established drug trafficking routes and was determined to have engaged in activities consistent with drug trafficking operations,” the spokesperson said, adding: “For operational security reasons, we cannot discuss specific sources or methods.”
The latest attack comes two days after the US military strikes killed five people in two boatsalso in the Eastern Pacific. One person survived those attacks, the U.S. Southern Command said.
In at least six cases, people survived attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats, in most cases prompting efforts to find and rescue them. authorities have canceled several of these searchesalthough an operation in October left two survivors picked up by a naval helicopter and repatriated to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.
The military’s treatment of survivors has come under intense scrutiny. The first boat strike on September 2nd hit two people survived an initial attack but were killed in a follow-up attackleading to accusations that the second attack may have been a war crime. Democratic lawmakers who viewed video of the Sept. 2 operation were extremely critical of the strike. The Defense Department and several Republicans in Congress insisted that the survivors may have still been in combat, justifying the follow-up attack.
The Trump administration has targeted suspected “narcoterrorists” operating in Latin America, calling the suspected drug smugglers “unlawful combatants.” tell Congress The USA is involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with cartels.
However, no conclusive evidence has been presented that the ships targeted are involved in drug trafficking, which has led to heated debates about the legality of the operations.
International law experts and human rights groups say the attacks are likely extrajudicial killings because they appear to have targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
