Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · May 28
U.S. Boat-Strike Death Toll Reaches 199 as Recent Survivors Go Unfound
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · May 28

U.S. Boat-Strike Death Toll Reaches 199 as Recent Survivors Go Unfound

14 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · May 28
  • At least 199 people have died in the Trump administration’s boat-strike campaign after no survivors were found from recent attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
  • The toll includes at least 22 people who survived an initial strike but were later hit again or died at sea; the military says three people survived two separate strikes this month.
  • U.S. Southern Command said it alerts the Coast Guard about survivors, but those reports appear to be passed to nearby countries; Mexico’s navy said a U.S. alert this month did not mention survivors.
  • Only three people are known to have survived and been rescued since the campaign began last September, underscoring criticism of the operation’s rescue follow-through.
  • The strikes, justified by the administration as part of a war on Latin American drug cartels, are already under Pentagon inspector-general review over whether targeting procedures were followed.
Are U.S. strikes on survivors a new military doctrine or a clear violation of international law?
With 199 dead, why are drug trafficking networks adapting their routes instead of collapsing?
As key allies withdraw support, is the U.S. anti-drug campaign becoming diplomatically isolated?