The U.S. military reported Wednesday that eight people were killed in multiple new attacks against suspected drug-trafficking vessels, bringing the death toll in Washington’s campaign against those it claims are drug traffickers to at least 115.
U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. forces operating in Central and South America, announced two series of attacks, carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday, “three drug-trafficking vessels traveling in convoy” were attacked in “international waters,” according to a statement from U.S. Southern Command. Three suspected drug traffickers aboard the first vessel were killed in the initial engagement. The remaining suspected drug traffickers abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and dispersing before subsequent engagements sank their respective boats, the statement said.
Accompanying the statement, published on X, was a video showing the vessels sailing together at sea and then being struck by a series of explosions.
The exact location of the attacks was not immediately clear. Previous attacks have taken place in the Caribbean or the eastern Pacific.
The military stated that it had notified the Coast Guard to “activate the search and rescue system,” without offering further details about the fate of the people aboard the other vessels.
Hours later, it issued a second statement about attacks on two other vessels on Wednesday, in which five people were killed. Again, it did not clarify where the attacks occurred.
Since September, the U.S. military has carried out more than 30 such attacks against what it claims are vessels used for drug smuggling into the United States, without providing any concrete evidence that the targeted vessels are involved in trafficking.
International law experts and human rights groups say the attacks likely constitute extrajudicial killings. These killings apparently targeted civilians who pose no immediate threat to the United States.
In recent months, US President Donald Trump has waged a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leftist president, Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of running a drug cartel.
Maduro denies the accusation and has accused Washington of seeking regime change to gain access to the Latin American country’s vast oil reserves.