Overview
- U.S. Southern Command reported a Dec. 4 lethal strike in international waters of the eastern Pacific, ordered by Secretary Pete Hegseth, claiming the targeted boat carried illicit drugs and was operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization, and posted a short video of the blast.
- Thursday’s action is the first publicly announced strike in weeks and brings the campaign’s death toll to at least 87 across roughly 22 attacks in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, according to aggregated reports.
- In closed‑door briefings, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley told lawmakers he did not receive an order to “kill them all,” while Democrats who viewed classified video said it showed U.S. forces killing shipwrecked survivors from the Sept. 2 incident and Republicans defended the legality.
- The Washington Post reported Hegseth directed a second September strike to eliminate survivors, a claim the Pentagon called false, as the White House has acknowledged that a second missile killed two people and President Donald Trump voiced support for Hegseth.
- Pressure for accountability is rising, including a new complaint to the Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights over the Sept. 15 killing of Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza Medina and criticism from the U.N. and Amnesty International alleging unlawful killings.