The U.S. military killed two men in its latest strike targeting a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean on Sunday, U.S. Southern Command announced late Sunday, raising the monthslong operation’s death toll to at least 213.
The strike left six survivors, according to SOUTHCOM, which said in a statement that it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search-and-rescue operations. The condition of the survivors was not known. UPI has contacted the Coast Guard for an update.
Sunday’s strike was the third since Tuesday and the fourth this month, killing at least eight people in June alone. There have been 66 known U.S. strikes targeting boats suspected of transporting drugs through international waters in the Pacific and Caribbean since the campaign began with the first boat strike on Sept. 2.
As with previous strikes, SOUTHCOM alleged, without providing public proof, that the targeted vessel was “operated by a designated terrorist organization.” The command’s near-identical strike announcements have stated that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes” and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. A 10-second, black-and-white aerial video shared by SOUTHCOM shows a boat speeding across the water before it is hit by a projectile and erupts into smoke and flames.
The Trump administration paved the foundation for the campaign with an executive order Trump signed on his first day in office permitting the designation of Latin American cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations. The list has grown to 17 groups since the first were named in February. Trump has claimed the United States is in “armed conflict” with these groups, and his administration cites the terrorist designations in defending the use of the military to combat what it describes as narco-terrorism.
The campaign has drawn repeated criticism. Democrats in Congress have demanded information about the operation since the first few strikes were made public. Last week, senators filed legislation that would pressure Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to hand over unredacted documents and unredacted video concerning the attacks. Lawmakers have condemned the strikes as unauthorized use of force in what are ostensibly law enforcement activities, killing individuals who have not been charged, tried or sentenced for any crimes. They also criticize the campaign’s effectiveness, stating drugs such as cocaine are trafficked by boat from South America, often to Europe, while fentanyl is usually trafficked overland.
Ben Saul, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, has been among the most vocal critics, calling Trump’s so-called war on narco-terrorism “phony.” Colombian President Gustavo Petro has also accused Trump of murdering a fisherman in a strike early in the operation.
In May, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General announced the launch of an evaluation into whether SOUTHCOM was following policies when attacking boats in the Pacific and Caribbean. The fate of many survivors from previous strikes has been left unclear. In at least one case, the Coast Guard told UPI that search-and-rescue operations were suspended after finding no signs of survivors. In October, Trump said two survivors from a strike had been repatriated to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia for prosecution.