US strikes a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first
attack in months
[August 25, 2026]
By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and BILL BARROW
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a pause of more than two months, the U.S.
military announced Monday that it once again carried out a strike on a
vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of
trafficking drugs.
It brings the overall death toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes
during the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing alleged drug boats
off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
U.S. Southern Command says the campaign has resulted in the destruction
of 64 speedboats, three “low-profile” ships and a semisubmersible craft.
The command said on social media early Monday that forces “executed a
lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along
established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.” The
military said the strike occurred Sunday, and it marked the first since
powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela killed thousands
of people.
As with most of the military’s statements, Southern Command did not
provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.
“We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists
— disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and
eliminating cartel terror across the region,” said Gen. Francis Donovan,
who leads U.S. Southern Command.
The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with
allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin
American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit
to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to
allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal
groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal.
Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March.
The Trump administration's boat bombing campaign began in early
September and has left numerous survivors, but most of them have never
been recovered.
U.S. Southern Command said in a separate statement Monday that there
have been more than 20 search and rescue efforts overall, almost all of
which were unsuccessful.
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The Pentagon is seen from the Washington Monument, Wednesday, Aug.
19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
According to data compiled from the command's social media posts,
the strikes have generated 28 survivors with only three people ever
being rescued — one person during a strike in March who was
transferred to the Costa Rican Coast Guard, and two wounded people
who were later repatriated to their home countries of Ecuador and
Colombia.
The very first strike in September 2025 left two survivors who were
killed in a second, follow-up strike. When that became public, it
drew concern from some lawmakers and those who study military law.
The White House insisted it was done “in self-defense” to ensure the
boat was destroyed and in accordance with armed conflict laws.
But some legal scholars said a second strike killing survivors would
have been illegal under any circumstance, armed conflict or not.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with
cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a
necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United
States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his
administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of
killing “narcoterrorists.”
Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as
well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind
many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land
from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China
and India.
The Pentagon’s watchdog said in May that it plans to look into
whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting
framework when carrying out the strikes. However, the evaluation is
focused specifically on what’s known as the six-phase Joint
Targeting Cycle and not on the legality of the strikes, the
inspector general’s office said.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta.
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