{"id":12551,"date":"2026-02-18T00:51:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12551"},"modified":"2026-02-18T00:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:51:43","slug":"us-kills-11-people-in-three-strikes-on-alleged-drug-trafficking-vessels-donald-trump-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12551","title":{"rendered":"US kills 11 people in three strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels | Donald Trump News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign against alleged drug boats has resulted in at least 145 deaths since September.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 17 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">17 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The United States military announced that it has carried out three strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, killing at least 11 people.<\/p>\n<p>US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military activities in Latin America, said it conducted two of the strikes in the Eastern Pacific and one in the Caribbean as part of a campaign dubbed Operation Southern Spear. All three attacks were carried out late on Monday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cEleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean,\u201d SOUTHCOM said in a social media <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Southcom\/status\/2023791027383890240?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">post<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The administration of US President Donald Trump has been attacking what it says are drug-trafficking boats in the waters off South America since September 2, as part of a broader campaign against regional drug cartels.<\/p>\n<p>But legal experts have condemned the campaign as a series of extrajudicial killings. At least 145 people have been killed strikes since September, though estimates vary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUS confesses to its 146th murder of civilians at sea after its 43rd illegal military strike against alleged \u2018narco-terrorists\u2019,\u201d United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism Ben Saul said in a social media post responding to the most recent strike.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUS leaders must be held accountable by US or international justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The identities of those killed have never been formally released to the public, nor has any evidence been released to substantiate the claims that they were connected to drug trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>Families in Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago have stepped forward to claim the victims as their loved ones. Some of the suspected victims were identified as fishermen or temporary workers transiting from Venezuela to nearby islands.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the families have taken legal action in a push for justice.<\/p>\n<p>In December, the family of missing fisherman Alejandro Carranza filed a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and in late January, relatives of two Trinidadian workers \u2014 Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo \u2014 filed a wrongful death lawsuit in a US court in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration, however, has said it is in a state of armed conflict with drug-trafficking groups, several of which it has labelled foreign terrorist organisations.<\/p>\n<p>But those claims have been rejected by international law experts who say that no armed conflict exists and that the Trump administration is instead using lethal military force against criminal activity.<\/p>\n<p>Officials at the United Nations have called for the US to cease the military strikes, warning of violations of the UN Charter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of the individuals on the targeted boats appeared to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others or otherwise justified the use of lethal armed force against them under international law,\u201d Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in October.<\/p>\n<p>But the Trump administration has pressed forward with the bombing campaign despite criticisms of its legality. It has even pledged to shift to hitting drug-trafficking targets on land, as well as by sea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurns out President\u2019s Day \u2014 under President Trump \u2014 is not a good day to run drugs,\u201d Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a social media <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/2023810666004668441\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">post<\/a> showing a video of vessels being struck.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign against alleged drug boats has resulted in at least 145 deaths since September. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Published On 17 Feb 202617 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States military announced that it has carried out three strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}