US kills 3 in airstrike on alleged narco-trafficking vessel in Eastern Pacific

The US Southern Command said Wednesday that American forces carried out a "lethal" strike on a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations in the Eastern Pacific, killing three people it described as "narco-terrorists."

Intelligence confirmed the vessel was traveling along "known narco-trafficking routes" and "was engaged in drug-trafficking operations," the command said on US social media company X.

The strike was conducted at the direction of Southern Command chief General Francis L. Donovan, as part of Joint Task Force Southern Spear.

No US military personnel were harmed.

The operation is part of a broader Trump administration push to use military force against drug trafficking networks. Trump designated several cartels and criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year, a move that expanded the legal basis for military action against them.