The U.S. military conducted another strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, leaving three survivors, U.S. Southern Command said Friday.
In a post on X showing video of the Thursday attack, SOUTHCOM said, “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.”
“Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three narco-terrorists survived the strike,” the post said.
It did not say how many people were believed to have been killed.
SOUTHCOM said that after the strike, it “immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”
The Coast Guard and Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for more information.
The strike is at least the second to be conducted during the ongoing war with Iran.
On March 8, SOUTHCOM said it struck a vessel in the same area of the Pacific and that “six male narco-terrorists were killed during this action.”
The U.S. has carried out more than 45 strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September, killing over 140 people.
The Trump administration has argued that the strikes are in the country’s national security interest and have saved lives by preventing illicit drugs from entering the U.S. Some lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the strikes as illegal.
The X post Friday said the strike had been directed by Gen. Francis Donovan, the head of Southern Command. In testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Donovan said that, looking forward, “boat strikes aren’t the answer.”
He said they’re working on “a counter cartel campaign process that puts total systemic friction” across various drug networks.
“I believe that actually kinetic strikes will be one of the many tools, and probably not the most effective tool, when we actually look at it as more of a campaign approach,” Donovan testified.