Strike on alleged drug vessel kills four in the Caribbean, US military says | US military
The United States launched a new attack on a ship in the Caribbean, killing four people, U.S. Southern Command said on Wednesday.
Command that oversees combat operations in Latin America and the Caribbean announced He stated that he carried out a “deadly kinetic attack on a ship operated by Terrorist Organizations” against X.
U.S. Southern Command said, without adding evidence, that “intelligence confirmed that the ship transited known drug smuggling routes in the Caribbean and was involved in drug smuggling operations.”
Four alleged drug smugglers were killed in the attack, according to U.S. Southern Command. The statement stated that no US military personnel were harmed.
The latest attack occurred as part of U.S. Southern Command’s efforts to impose “full systemic friction on the cartels.”
Last Friday, the US military announced that it carried out a “deadly kinetic attack” on another boat allegedly smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, resulting in one person surviving and two people losing their lives. Last week’s attacks brought the death toll to at least 159 people since the defense ministry began attacking alleged “narco-terrorists” last September. over 45 strikes.
Although the defense ministry described the attacks as attacks against “narco terrorism”, it provided little evidence as to whether the ships were actually carrying drugs. Attacks condemned extrajudicial killings by the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations.
According to a 2020 report from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 74% of cocaine reaching the United States came via the Pacific, while only 8% came from fast boats from the Caribbean.
The Guardian has reached out to the White House for comment.
