US military says it struck vessel in Eastern Pacific, killing 3

Rights groups describe such actions as “unlawful killings”

A projectile approaches a vessel during what the US military says was a kinetic strike on a suspected drug trafficking vessel in the Caribbean, at an unidentified location in this screen grab obtained from a video released on Feb 13, 2026. US Southern Command/Handout via REUTERS

The US military said on Tuesday it struck a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three people, in the latest such attack that rights groups label as "extrajudicial killings" and Washington describes as targeting "narco-terrorists."

• The US Southern Command alleged that the vessel struck on Tuesday was operated by "Designated Terrorist Organizations" that it did not identify.

• It said that no US military forces were harmed. It described those killed as "male narco-terrorists," without offering details.

• "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command said on X.

• The US military has made numerous such deadly strikes in the Eastern Pacific in recent weeks.

• President Donald Trump's administration has been striking vessels that it accuses of transporting narcotics.

• The US military's strikes on such vessels have killed more than 170 people since September.

• Experts and human rights advocates, both in the US and globally, have questioned the legality of the strikes.

• Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the strikes amount to "unlawful extrajudicial killings."

• The American Civil Liberties Union casts the assertions by the Trump administration against those it targets as "unsubstantiated, fear-mongering claims."