The U.S. military has killed 11 people in recent strikes on three boats allegedly transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea.
The boats were attacked late Monday, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement, which alleged that the three boats were operated by designated terrorist organizations. No proof was provided.
A 39-second video published online by Southern Command contained three separate clips edited together, and appears to show each of the three boats as they were attacked. Of the three boats, two appeared stationary on the ocean when they erupted in flames following an explosion.
Two vessels with four people aboard each were attacked in the Eastern Pacific, while three people were aboard the vessel attacked in the Caribbean, Southern Command said.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” Southern Command said.
The Trump administration has killed at least 145 people in 42 strikes the Pentagon has made public since its first attack on Sept. 2.
Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/mib9XtptSB— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) February 17, 2026
The operations are conducted under Joint Task Force Southern Spear, which President Donald Trump launched in the fall to target alleged narco-trafficking operations. Trump has defended the strikes by stating the United States is in “armed conflict” with cartels, 10 of which he has designated as terrorist organizations since returning to the White House in January 2025.
The Trump administration has been widely criticized over the attacks, from critics and Democrats to human rights organization and the United Nations. One world leader, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, has accused Trump of murdering a fisherman in one of the attacks.
Amnesty International has said there is no legal basis for the strikes against boats the Trump administration accuses of transporting drugs without providing any evidence. Stopping alleged drug traffickers is a law enforcement operation and using lethal force when there is no imminent threat to life “is committing an extrajudicial killing, a form of murder,” the human rights group said.
United Nations independent experts have repeatedly warned the strikes are extrajudicial killings, unacceptable and must be stopped.
“These attacks appear to be unlawful killings carried out by order of a government, without judicial or legal process allowing due process of law,” the experts said in a statement in early November when only 15 strikes had been reported.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who was briefed on the strikes by the Trump administration in mid-December, has said there is neither legal nor national security justifications for them, stating he was told the boats were not shipping fentanyl, but cocaine and not to the United States, but to Europe.
“So we are spending billions of your taxpayer dollars to wage a war in the Caribbean to stop cocaine from going from Venezuela to Europe,” Murphy said. “That is a massive waste of national security resources and of your taxpayer dollars.”
The Democrats have attempted to stop the strikes, but Republicans, who control the House and Senate, have blocked votes on War Powers measures.
