Overview
- SOUTHCOM said Joint Task Force Southern Spear hit a small boat in the Caribbean, which killed three men Sunday, and it posted a brief strike video with no U.S. casualties reported.
- The command said the vessel was operated by a designated terrorist group and was moving along routes it identifies as common for drug smuggling.
- The strike is one of at least six since April 11, with 17 people killed in that stretch, and part of a broader effort that has destroyed more than 50 boats and left at least 181 dead since September, according to outlet tallies.
- President Donald Trump says the U.S. is in an 'armed conflict' with cartels, yet news reports note the military has not publicly shown evidence that targeted boats carried narcotics or named which groups operated them.
- Rights organizations, U.N. experts, and some lawmakers question the legality of the killings, and House Democrats filed impeachment articles last week alleging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered unlawful strikes.