US kills two people in attack on boat in eastern Pacific, one survivor

The United States military has attacked a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people, and notifying the US coastguard that one person survived the strike.

The US Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the “lethal kinetic strike” was carried out on Monday against a vessel, which it alleged was involved in drug trafficking without providing any evidence.

“Two narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the strike. Following the engagement, US SOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor,” the military said.

Last week, the US claimed responsibility for killing two people in an earlier attack in the eastern Pacific, bringing to three the number of attacks Washington has ordered on vessels since its forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a bloody nighttime raid on the capital, Caracas, in early January.

According to monitors and tallies kept by media organisations, the US has now carried out some 37 attacks against 39 vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Ocean, killing at least 130 people, including the latest killings on Monday.

SOUTHCOM did not provide details on the medical condition of the survivor from Monday’s attack, nor the chances of the person’s rescue by the US coastguard and the likelihood of their survival.

The US appears undeterred in carrying out its deadly operations in international waters off Latin America, despite legal scholars, rights workers and regional leaders accusing the US of extrajudicial killing by acting as the judge, jury and executioner in cases of people suspected of drug trafficking.

Officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump have already come under scrutiny for reports that the first such attack, which took place in September 2025, included a follow-up strike that killed survivors who were clinging to the wreckage of a boat.

Legal experts said the US military committed a crime if it killed the survivors of a shipwreck .

SOUTHCOM released a 10-second video of the air strike on Monday. In the video, a small, motorised boat can be seen in the military’s crosshairs before it is hit, triggering an explosion seconds later.

Some of the boat’s structure appears to remain intact after the explosion, although the vessel slows down.

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