The United States military on Monday (15 December) conducted strikes on three alleged narco-trafficking vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight people, according to a video post by the US Southern Command on X.
The ongoing campaign, under Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, is part of a campaign dubbed Operation Southern Spear. It has so far claimed at least 95 lives, AFP reported.
What has the US Military said about the attack?
According to the US Southern Command on X, “lethal kinetic strikes” were conducted on three vessels operated by “designated terrorist organizations” in international waters, at the direction of the Pentagon chief and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Strikes were conducted by the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, it said, adding, "Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of eight male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions—three in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third.
The attached video shows footage of three separate boats floating in water before they were each struck.
- The AFP report noted that Monday's strikes come on the back of a massive US military buildup in the Caribbean, which includes the world's largest aircraft carrier and a slew of other warships.
- US President Donald Trump has insisted that the operation is targeting narco-trafficking, while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro suspects the moves lead up to give the US a pretext for regime change in Caracas.
- During one of the first strikes, survivors of an initial attack on a boat were killed after the US launched a second strike on the vessel, a controversial move that has generated accusations of a possible war crime. In defence, Hegseth said he did not order a second strike, but it was a decision taken by US Admiral Frank Bradley.
- The US has so far struck over 20 vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela as part of Trump's anti-drug and anti-smuggling campaign, as per a Reuters report.
- “Our operations in the Southcom region are lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters earlier this month.
(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)
