US Strike On Drug Boat In Pacific Kills Four As Fury Grows Over Attacks On Survivors

Last Updated:December 05, 2025, 07:18 IST

The White House and Pentagon have sought to distance Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from the decision to strike the survivors.

Republicans, however, defended the actions as lawful and necessary. (X @Southcom)

The US military on Thursday carried out another deadly strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four people, even as outrage mounts in Washington over a string of similar operations that have already claimed more than 87 lives.

US Southern Command said the latest strike targeted a “vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization," adding that intelligence confirmed it was carrying illicit narcotics along a major trafficking route. A video released with the statement showed a powerful explosion engulfing a fast-moving multi-engine boat.

The operation unfolded as lawmakers on Capitol Hill were shown extended classified footage of a controversial early-September strike, in which US forces hit the wreckage of a vessel that had already been destroyed—killing two survivors clinging to debris. After viewing the footage, House Intelligence Committee Democrat Jim Himes said it depicted “the United States military attacking shipwrecked sailors… one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service."

He added, “You have two individuals in clear distress… who were killed by the United States."

Republican Congressman Don Bacon agreed, saying the men posed no “imminent threat," which is required under US rules of engagement.

But Republican Senator Tom Cotton defended the actions as lawful and necessary, saying the survivors were attempting to right a capsized vessel “loaded with drugs bound for the United States… so they could stay in the fight."

The White House and Pentagon have sought to distance Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from the decision to strike the survivors, instead pointing to Admiral Frank Bradley, who oversaw the mission. Himes said Bradley told lawmakers Hegseth did not order that all survivors be killed, but critics insist the Pentagon leadership remains responsible.

President Donald Trump’s administration maintains it is at war with “narco-terrorists" and has deployed the world’s largest aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region. But the aggressive campaign has heightened tensions across Latin America, with Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro accusing Washington of using anti-narcotics operations as a pretext for “imposing regime change."

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