5 more suspected narco-terrorists killed in boat strikes in the eastern Pacific: Officials

U.S. Southern Command announced that five men had been killed Thursday in the latest strikes against alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific.

In a post on X nearly identical to the one shared the day before, officials said the “lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels” were directed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as part of Operation Southern Spear.

There were two men on one vessel and three on the other, the post details.

Officials said the vessel was “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters.”

“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the announcement reads. “A total of five male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions – three in the first vessel and two in the second vessel. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”

The new strikes come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. President Donald Trump said Thursday in an exclusive interview with NBC News that he is leaving the possibility of a war with Venezuela on the table. He also ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming and going from Venezuela, increasing pressure on the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Meanwhile, a so-called double tap strike by the U.S. on Sept. 2 that killed the survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat is still facing congressional scrutiny 

On Monday, eight alleged “narco-terrorists” were also killed in U.S. strikes on three suspected drug vessels in the eastern Pacific. On Wednesday, officials announced four more deaths as a result of one strike.

Thursday’s strike brings the total number of known strikes by U.S. forces in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean to 28; they have killed at least 103 people.

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