US military strike kills three in latest cartel boat hit

According to Hegseth, the boat was linked to Colombia’s Ejército de Liberacion Nacional (ELN), a guerrilla group Washington has listed as a terrorist organization since the 1990s. He said the vessel was traveling along a known narcotics route and “was transporting substantial amounts of drugs.” The strike took place in international waters under US Southern Command, which oversees operations in the Caribbean.

"On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics.

"There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike—which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike. These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people. The United States military will treat these organizations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed, just like Al Qaeda," Hegseth wrote.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended the strikes, describing the campaign as part of a broader “non-international armed conflict” against drug cartels.