What is the story about?
The death toll in US President Donald Trump's campaign of blowing up boats in international waters has crossed 200.
With four strikes this week that killed 11 sailors, the US military has now killed a total of 205 sailors in international waters in 65 strikes.
Starting in September 2025, the US military began blowing up boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in the name of a campaign against drugs. It dubbed the campaign 'Operation Southern Spear'.
As with the strikes this week, the US military has maintained that it has been striking vessels operated by designated terrorist organisations after intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
In almost every strike, the US military did not identify those it killed or name the purported terrorist organisation to which the killed sailors belonged. It also never produced any evidence of drugs being present on those vessels.
The United Nations (UN) has said that Trump's campaign is against international law. The UN has stressed that killing in international waters is lawful only as a last resort when individuals being killed pose an imminent threat to life. In the case of the American strikes, none of those killed posed an imminent threat to the US military. The UN further pointed out that countering drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter and should not involve the military killing people.
Trump's campaign to blow up boats is also in violation of the longstanding bilateral policy of arresting suspected drug traffickers and prosecuting them in US courts. But Trump has ended that policy and ordered people to be killed in international waters on mere suspicion without any trial or formal identification.
Critics have flagged these strikes as war crimes and said at least one strike qualifies as a war crime even under American law.
On September 2, the US military used an aircraft disguised as a civilian plane to attack a boat. Such an act is known as perfidy and is considered a crime under both US law and international law. In the same strike, the US military attacked unarmed shipwrecked survivors of the initial attack. Like perfidy, killing unarmed and shipwrecked persons is a war crime under international law as well as American law. But the Trump administration has continued to stand by such killings.
With four strikes this week that killed 11 sailors, the US military has now killed a total of 205 sailors in international waters in 65 strikes.
Starting in September 2025, the US military began blowing up boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in the name of a campaign against drugs. It dubbed the campaign 'Operation Southern Spear'.
As with the strikes this week, the US military has maintained that it has been striking vessels operated by designated terrorist organisations after intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
In almost every strike, the US military did not identify those it killed or name the purported terrorist organisation to which the killed sailors belonged. It also never produced any evidence of drugs being present on those vessels.
On May 30, 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… pic.twitter.com/IMgQiUTPnP
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 31, 2026
The United Nations (UN) has said that Trump's campaign is against international law. The UN has stressed that killing in international waters is lawful only as a last resort when individuals being killed pose an imminent threat to life. In the case of the American strikes, none of those killed posed an imminent threat to the US military. The UN further pointed out that countering drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter and should not involve the military killing people.
Trump's campaign to blow up boats is also in violation of the longstanding bilateral policy of arresting suspected drug traffickers and prosecuting them in US courts. But Trump has ended that policy and ordered people to be killed in international waters on mere suspicion without any trial or formal identification.
Critics have flagged these strikes as war crimes and said at least one strike qualifies as a war crime even under American law.
On September 2, the US military used an aircraft disguised as a civilian plane to attack a boat. Such an act is known as perfidy and is considered a crime under both US law and international law. In the same strike, the US military attacked unarmed shipwrecked survivors of the initial attack. Like perfidy, killing unarmed and shipwrecked persons is a war crime under international law as well as American law. But the Trump administration has continued to stand by such killings.
