U.S. military strike kills 4 on alleged drug boat in Caribbean

The U.S. military said it carried out a strike Wednesday on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people. U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the attack on social media, describing it as a "lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations."

The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. No U.S. military personnel were harmed in the strike, according to the command.

A video posted on social media showed a boat moving across the water before it was engulfed in a bright explosion.

The latest attack brings the total number of people killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 163 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in early September. Approximately 47 boats have been struck in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of the campaign, which U.S. Southern Command has described as applying "total systemic friction on the cartels."