US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said US forces “conducted a lethal kinetic strike” earlier on Friday, killing three people.

The US military again repeated its claim, without providing any evidence, that it was targeting people suspected of drug trafficking, and described those slain in the attack as “narco-terrorists”.

SOUTHCOM released a video of the attack that appears to show a missile strike on the boat which then explodes into flames, leaving the vessel obliterated.

International law and human rights experts have repeatedly said such attacks amounts to extrajudicial executions, even if those targeted are alleged to be engaged in trafficking drugs, according to Al Jazeera. 

The killings on Friday follow an attack on Monday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where SOUTHCOM said it struck a vessel, killing two people and leaving one survivor.

SOUTHCOM said it had notified the US Coast Guard that there was a survivor from the attack, but did not provide details on the survivor’s condition or chances of rescue and survival.

The first attack by US forces on vessels in international waters, which took place in September 2025, included a follow-up strike that killed survivors who were clinging to the wreckage of a destroyed boat.

US administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the commander of the operation, Admiral Frank Bradley, were placed under scrutiny for the order to carry out the second attack on survivors.

MNA