U.S. kills 2 in eastern Pacific boat strike
by Lisa Hornung · UPIFeb. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. military has conducted another strike on a suspected drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, killing two people.
The U.S. Southern Command announced the strike on X Thursday night.
"On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed," the post said.
It's only the second boat strike the military has announced this year, and the first since Jan. 23, The Hill reported. In that incident in the eastern Pacific, the attack left one survivor. The Coast Guard did a search and rescue mission, but suspended it after 56 hours.
It's also the first strike since President Donald Trump met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday. The two agreed to cooperate on stopping drug trafficking and discussed sanctions.
"He and I weren't exactly the best of friends, but I wasn't insulted because I never met him. I didn't know at all," Trump said afterward.
The U.S. has now carried out 37 strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, killing at least 127 people.
The families of two of those people have filed a lawsuit against the President Donald Trump administration for the deaths of their family members.
In early January, the United States invaded Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They have pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan, N.Y., court to drug trafficking charges.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth came under fire in December for one of the boat strikes because it appeared that forces killed the survivors after the boat was attacked. He refused to release the video to the public.
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