8 killed in U.S. attack on alleged drug boats in E. Pacific

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

The U.S. military said on Wednesday that five boats suspected of transporting drugs were destroyed in international waters in the eastern Pacific over two days, killing eight men aboard, while others jumped overboard, according to the U.S. Southern Command.

Under the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted "kinetic strikes" against three vessels operated by "Designated Terrorist Organizations" on Monday, and two vessels on Wednesday, the command said on its website.

Three people in the first vessel were killed in the first strike on Monday, the command said, adding, "The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels."

In another press release, the command said five people were killed during these actions on Wednesday, with three in the first vessel and two in the second.

As of Wednesday, the Pentagon has sunk 35 alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing at least 115 people aboard.

For months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to combat drug trafficking -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as a thinly veiled attempt to bring about government change in Caracas.