The US military has killed two suspected drug smugglers in a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific, the Southern Command announced on Monday. The attack was carried out under the direction of the unit's new commander, General Francis L Donovan, who was sworn in last week.
The Pentagon said the boat was travelling along known narco-trafficking routes. The US Coast Guard is searching for a lone survivor. The deaths bring the tally of those killed in such strikes to at least 130 in 38 operations, according to figures compiled by the Intercept.
Earlier on Monday, US forces boarded a sanctioned tanker, the Aquila II, in the Indian Ocean. The vessel had fled the Venezuelan coast after the US imposed an oil quarantine on the country. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed that none of the fleeing tankers would escape.
The Aquila II is owned by a company with a Hong Kong address and has been sailing with its transponder off, a practice known as running dark. The Pentagon said the ship was operating in defiance of President Trump's quarantine. Its ultimate fate is yet to be decided by US authorities.
