Update: US expands boat strikes, Congress upholds campaign

In the latest development of a new U.S. maritime campaign, the Pentagon says a Navy aircraft struck another boat in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, killing four people aboard a vessel it accused of smuggling drugs for a terrorist-designated group in international waters. This was the 26th strike on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since early September, bringing the total reported deaths from these operations to at least 99. The campaign, directed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth under President Trump’s orders, aims to disrupt maritime routes used by cartels and allied armed groups, and officials say no U.S. personnel have been injured in these actions. Critics in Congress and legal experts warn that killing crews at sea without trials may viol...

U.S. military aircraft supporting boat strike operations off the coast of South America.

Highlights:

Campaign scale: Since the first attacks in early September, U.S. forces have conducted more than two dozen maritime strikes against suspected drug-smuggling or "narco-terrorist" vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, a tempo that represents one of the most sustained U.S. lethal operations in the Western Hemisphere in recent years.
Joint task force: The missions are carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear, a formation created to coordinate Navy, Coast Guard, intelligence and special operations units so they can rapidly hit time-sensitive targets at sea.
Venezuela dimension: Lawmakers’ war powers debate was driven in part by concerns that the maritime campaign is intertwined with President Trump’s threats to strike Venezuela and pressure the government of Nicolás Maduro, as the military has built up forces in Puerto Rico and the region.
House vote breakdown: Two Democratic-led measures—one to require congressional approval for any new U.S. ground offensive against Venezuelan forces and another to stop further boat attacks—failed largely along party lines, leaving the administration’s current authorities in place.
Defense bill pressure: Separately, the Senate is advancing a $901 billion annual defense policy bill that, among many provisions, presses Secretary Hegseth to provide Congress with video or other documentation of recent boat strikes, reflecting bipartisan interest in more transparency around the operations.

Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization. - U.S. Southern Command statement (as reported)

Perspectives:

U.S. Southern Command: Southern Command describes the latest operation as a successful "lethal kinetic strike" on a vessel run by a designated terrorist organization, emphasizing that the boat was traveling along a known narco-trafficking corridor in international waters and that no American personnel were hurt.. (Fox News)
Biden administration Democrats in House: Democratic lawmakers sponsoring the war powers resolutions argue that Congress must explicitly authorize any further use of U.S. military force against Venezuela or in the expanding campaign of lethal strikes on small boats, warning that the operations risk unlawful killings and unintended escalation.. (The New York Times)
House Republican majority: Most House Republicans voted to defeat the resolutions, signaling support for President Trump’s authority to continue targeting drug cartels and Venezuelan forces without new, specific authorization and framing the actions as necessary to defend Americans from narcotics-related threats.. (ABC News)
Legal and human rights experts: Some legal specialists cited in earlier reporting argue that repeatedly bombing small vessels and killing crews on suspicion of drug trafficking amounts to extrajudicial killing and may violate international humanitarian law when conducted far from traditional battlefields.. (The New York Times)

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