US Military Kills Two in Pacific Drug Vessel Strike

The U.S. military conducted its eighth strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel Tuesday in the eastern Pacific off Colombia, killing two people, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced and posted video of the strike. Hegseth said the boat was operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization,” was transiting a known narco‑trafficking route and carrying narcotics, likening the cartels to al‑Qaeda and framing the campaign as part of an “armed conflict.” The administration says seven prior Caribbean strikes have killed at least 34 people. UN experts, civil‑liberties groups and Latin American governments have raised legal and human‑rights concerns, and reporting indicates much of the targeting intelligence came from the CIA while key operational details and evidence have not been publicly disclosed. Survivors of earlier strikes who were returned to their home countries were not prosecuted, the White House has not commented, and questions remain about transparency and the legal basis for the operations.