US military carries out first boat strike in two months, killing two alleged drug traffickers
Washington: The US military has carried out a strike on another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of drug trafficking, officials said on Monday.
It was the first such strike announced in about two months, as the Trump administration continues its nearly year-long campaign against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in waters off Latin America.
The latest operation brings the reported death toll from the campaign to more than 210 people following more than 60 strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
US Southern Command said its forces had carried out a "lethal kinetic strike" on a low-profile vessel travelling along established drug-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific.
However, as with most previous US military statements about the strikes, the Pentagon did not provide evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs.
The strike took place on Sunday and was the first announced operation of its kind since powerful earthquakes on June 24 killed thousands of people.
"We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region," Gen Francis Donovan, head of US Southern Command, said.
US seeks to expand operations in Latin America
The latest strike comes as the Trump administration seeks agreements with allied governments to expand its campaign against criminal groups to land operations across Latin America.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama earlier this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow joint US military operations against criminal groups on their territory.
Guatemala, however, denied reaching such an agreement.
Ecuador has conducted similar joint operations with the US since March.
President Donald Trump has described the US as being in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels in Latin America. He has defended the strikes as necessary to curb the flow of narcotics into the US and prevent fatal drug overdoses.
However, the administration has provided limited evidence to support its claims that those killed were "narcoterrorists".
Questions over legality and effectiveness
The boat strikes, which began in early September, have faced growing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and military legal experts.
Critics have questioned both their legality and effectiveness, particularly because much of the fentanyl linked to fatal overdoses in the US is trafficked over land from Mexico.
Fentanyl is primarily produced in Mexico using precursor chemicals imported from countries including China and India.
The Pentagon's inspector general announced in May that it would examine whether the military followed its established targeting procedures when conducting the strikes.