US Launches Deadly Strike on Alleged Drug Boat, Believed to Be the First in Two Months
Two people were killed as U.S. forces resumed the campaign after a pause of more than two months, officials said.
- On Sunday, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing two people and marking the first known strike in more than two months.
- The military launched "Operation Southern Spear" in September 2025, claiming an "armed conflict" against cartels; prior to the pause, the campaign destroyed at least 67 vessels and killed at least 221 people.
- Earlier this month, Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine urged the White House to cease what he called an "illegal, costly and ineffective" operation, citing classified information that strikes likely killed "individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking."
- SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan defended the mission Monday, stating, "We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists." The administration justifies strikes against "unlawful combatants" via classified Justice Department findings.
- Legal experts and rights groups argue the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings, as the administration has not provided evidence linking vessels to trafficking. Some members of Congress advocate returning to traditional prosecution policies.
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U.S. Southern Command assured that intelligence information made it possible to detect this vessel carrying out drug trafficking activities
The Real News
Progressive Hub‘Lawless killing spree at sea resumes’ as US announces fresh boat bombings
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 24, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license. The US military has resumed its campaign of bombing alleged drug-trafficking vessels after a two-month pause in a campaign that many legal experts and human rights groups believe constitutes a murder spree. In a Monday social media post, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it carried out a “lethal kinetic strike…
The U.S. Army reports that it is attacking another ship in the Eastern Pacific, and that two people accused of drug trafficking were killed.
South China Morning Post
abc 7 LAUS strikes vessel in eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months
US forces have struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs, the US military said on Monday, in the first attack announced in about two months. The death toll in the nearly year-long US campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike …
US Military Strikes Vessel in Eastern Pacific, Killing 2 People
The U.S. military said two people were killed when it struck a vessel actively involved in narco-trafficking on Aug. 23, the first such attack in two months. U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X that Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.” Southern Command said two narcoterrorists were killed in the first boat …
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