LOC09:20
06:20 GMT
WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (KUNA) -- US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has announced that two people were killed while another survived in a military strike targeting a drug trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
In a statement posted on its X account late Monday, SOUTHCOM said "at the direction of SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.
"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," it added.
Following the strike, US Coast Guard were immediately notified to activate a search-and-rescue system for the lone survivor.
Last September, the US administration informed Congress that the United States was engaged in an "armed conflict" with "terrorist" drug cartels in the Caribbean region. (end)
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