Overview
- U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear hit a small vessel Friday in the Eastern Pacific, killing two men in the latest strike in a months-long maritime campaign.
- The command said the boat was operated by unnamed Designated Terrorist Organizations and released a short video showing the vessel erupting in flames.
- At least 182 people have been killed and more than 50 boats destroyed since the strikes began in September, according to official statements and media tallies.
- The military has not publicly shown proof that the boats carried drugs or named specific groups, prompting Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and some lawmakers to call the killings extrajudicial.
- The administration calls the effort an armed conflict with cartels based on a classified Justice Department finding, while officials report no U.S. casualties and note Coast Guard searches for survivors after some strikes.