Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced two lethal strikes in international waters that destroyed two boats and left six people dead, with no U.S. casualties reported.
- The operations, ordered by President Donald Trump and publicized with video on X, are the latest in a campaign that began in September targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels.
- With the new strikes, the reported death toll has risen to at least 75 and roughly 20 small craft destroyed across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
- U.S. officials assert the boats were linked to illicit smuggling and run by designated terrorist organizations, but they have not provided public, independent evidence to substantiate those claims.
- The U.N. human-rights chief has warned of strong indications of extrajudicial killings and called for prompt, independent probes, and a recent Democratic-led Senate bid to curb the campaign failed on a 49–51 vote.