The U.S. military said it carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, killing three people.
The operation is the latest in an intensifying anti-narcotics campaign ordered by the Trump administration, which is drawing growing criticism from international legal experts and human rights advocates.
In a statement, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said the vessel was operated by “Designated Terrorist Organisations,” but did not identify the specific groups involved.
It confirmed no U.S. personnel were injured and described the dead as “male narco-terrorists”, without providing further details or evidence of their affiliations.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the U.S. Southern Command said in a post on the social media platform X.
Wednesday’s strike forms part of a continuing series of military operations off the coasts of Central and South America.
It came a day after the U.S. military reported a similar strike in the eastern Pacific that killed four people. That followed another operation on Monday in the same region, which left two dead.
The Trump administration has increasingly deployed naval and air assets to target vessels suspected of transporting drugs.
Compiled reports indicate that U.S. military strikes on suspected smuggling vessels have killed more than 170 people since the policy was expanded in September last year.
The use of lethal military force against suspected smugglers in international waters has prompted strong criticism from legal experts and human rights groups in the U.S. and internationally.
At the centre of the dispute is how targets are classified. By designating cartels as “terrorist organisations” and labelling smugglers as “narco-terrorists,” the administration argues it has legal authority under the laws of armed conflict to use lethal force. However, human rights organisations say this approach bypasses due process and the presumption of innocence under international maritime law.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued reports condemning the campaign, stating that the strikes amount to “unlawful extrajudicial killings.”
HRW argues that U.S. military personnel firing on suspected smuggling vessels represents a serious breach of international human rights law.
In the U.S., the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has also challenged the policy, describing the administration’s justification as “unsubstantiated, fear-mongering claims.”
Legal scholars aligned with the ACLU argue the military is effectively acting as judge, jury and executioner based on classified intelligence that is not subject to independent judicial review. They say the U.S. military rarely provides detailed evidence of the narcotics allegedly destroyed or independent verification that those killed were armed combatants rather than low-level couriers.
However, the Trump administration maintains that the strikes are lawful acts of self-defence in what it describes as an ongoing, though undeclared, “armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organisations designated as terrorist groups by the U.S.
Gen Z protests swept 34 German cities on Saturday (31 October) over education, living costs and military service proposals. Violence erupted in Fra...
Iran designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations on Sunday, (1 November), and classified the country's f...
Since 2021, only 9 per cent of $8 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan can be traced beyond initial recipients in public re...
The U.S. has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine in a deal worth an estimated $2.1 billion, but Kyiv could face years of delays before receiving the weapons it urgently needs to defend against intensifying Russian attacks.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered Iran's armed forces to respond to any threat immediately and without geographical limits in statements posted to social media platforms on Saturday (31 October).
Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and placards supporting the hijab gathered outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London.
A Chinese-made AI chip has matched Nvidia’s H200 in tests conducted by its developer, marking a potential breakthrough in China’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign technology.
A hacking group linked to North Korea is widely believed to be behind the theft of $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency giant Binance, a cyberattack that experts describe as the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
Gen Z protests swept 34 German cities on Saturday (31 October) over education, living costs and military service proposals. Violence erupted in Frankfurt, where shops were looted and police reported Molotov cocktail attacks.
Iran designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations on Sunday, (1 November), and classified the country's foreign intelligence agency, MI6, as a hostile group, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Thousands protested in Albania's capital, Tirana, on Saturday (31 October), demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation over perceived corruption allegations and dissatisfaction with the government over a lack of jobs and poor education standards.
Russia has agreed to work with Ghana on developing a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant following talks at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said on Saturday.
Foreign ministers from the U.S., Japan, Australia and India raised concerns over export restrictions and economic coercion at a Quad meeting in Atlanta, U.S., on Saturday, 31 October 2026, according to their joint statement.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment