US military says 2 killed in eastern Pacific boat strike, with 1 survivor
Source: CNN
Politics * 1 min read
US military says 2 killed in eastern Pacific boat strike, with 1 survivor
Updated 36 min ago
Updated Jan 23, 2026, 6:07 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jan 23, 2026, 5:36 PM ET
By Clay Voytek

This screengrab taken from a video shows an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, before it was struck on Friday, January 23, 2026. US Southern Command said that the strike killed two people and left one survivor. (US Southern Command)
The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Friday, killing two people, according to US Southern Command. ... One individual survived the strike, and SOUTHCOM said it notified the US Coast Guard to activate a search and rescue mission for the survivor.
"On Jan. 23, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," SOUTHCOM wrote on X. ... CNN has reached out to the Coast Guard for comment.
At least 117 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.
The US military most recently struck two boats on December 31, killing five people.
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Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/politics/us-military-strikes-boat-pacific-survivor
wolfie001
(7,245 posts)Coast Guard should have intervened. This is fascist bullshit.
travelingthrulife
(4,645 posts)angrychair
(11,799 posts)If you think they wont murder us when ordered then you are naive. History says differently.
chowder66
(11,911 posts)Hmmm. Why would they do that I wonder?
They already committed a war crime.
delisen
(7,258 posts)purr-rat beauty
(1,041 posts)You mean murderers?
Miguelito Loveless
(5,476 posts)Committed a war crime. They have chosen fascism. Soon, they will be in our cities, following orders.