US military says it carried out strikes on two vessels, killing five

A vessel that the U.S. military said was suspected of smuggling drugs, burns after being struck with a kinetic weapon in a location given as the Eastern Pacific, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released December 18, 2025. U.S. Southern Command/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON, ‌Dec 18 (Reuters) - The ‌U.S. military said ‌on Thursday it carried out kinetic ‍strikes on two ‍vessels ‌suspected of smuggling drugs ‍in ​the Eastern Pacific.

"A ⁠total of five male narco-terrorists ‌were killed during ⁠these ‍actions — three in the ‍first vessel and ‌two in the second vessel. No U.S. military forces were harmed," the U.S. Southern ‌Command said on X.