{"id":2570883,"date":"2026-02-18T02:41:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eleven-people-killed-as-us-southern-command-carries-out-three-more-strikes-on-suspected-narco-terrorist-vessels\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T02:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:43:15","slug":"eleven-people-killed-as-us-southern-command-carries-out-three-more-strikes-on-suspected-narco-terrorist-vessels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eleven-people-killed-as-us-southern-command-carries-out-three-more-strikes-on-suspected-narco-terrorist-vessels\/","title":{"rendered":"Eleven people killed as US Southern Command carries out three more strikes on suspected &#8216;narco-terrorist&#8217; vessels"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Feleven-people-killed-as-us-southern-command-carries-out-three-more-strikes-on-suspected-narco-terrorist-vessels%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2570883&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Three lethal strikes on vessels suspected of narcotics trafficking were carried out by U.S. Southern Command as part of Operation Southern Spear, resulting in the deaths of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-conducts-three-lethal-strikes-on-narco-terror-drug-vessels-killing-11\/\" title=\"Pentagon Conducts Three ... on Narco-Terror Drug ..., Killing 11\">eleven male narco-terrorists<\/a>. The strikes targeted two vessels in the Eastern Pacific and one in the Caribbean, with four casualties on the first vessel, four on the second, and three on the third. Authorized by General Francis L.Donovan, the operations are part of a broader mission to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tsa-makes-alarming-dirty-diaper-discovery-at-new-york-airport\/\" title=\"TSA finds concerning &#039;dirty diaper&#039; at NY airport\">disrupt transnational criminal networks<\/a> and enhance maritime security in the Western Hemisphere. These actions are described as the 42nd known strike of the campaign, which has cumulatively reported at least 144 victims, according to a New York Times tracker. The operation began in 2025 at the request of President Donald trump, with the first strikes dating to September 2, 2025, and continued into 2026, including several February actions. The campaign aims to improve maritime domain awareness and prevent illicit activity from reaching the U.S. homeland.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Eleven people killed as US Southern Command carries out three more strikes on suspected &lsquo;narco-terrorist&rsquo; vessels<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2508178\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The U.S. military announced three more strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels as part of Operation Southern Spear. Two of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4448389\/two-narco-terrorists-killed-in-latest-military-strike-in-eastern-pacific\/\">strikes<\/a> occurred in the Eastern Pacific, and one in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4458820\/us-seizes-oil-tanker-iran-ties\/\">Caribbean<\/a> Sea. Eleven &ldquo;male narco-terrorists were killed&rdquo; during the military operations, and the strikes were authorized by Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of United States Southern Command.<\/p>\n<p>Southern Command announced the recent strikes in a press <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.southcom.mil\/News\/PressReleases\/Article\/4407222\/lethal-kinetic-strikes-feb-16-2026\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release<\/a> and on social media accounts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4461184\/megyn-kelly-randy-fine-muslim-dogs-post\/\">Megyn Kelly rips &#8216;sweaty man&#8217; Randy Fine for going &#8216;full bigot&#8217; in anti-Muslim post<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4461163\/fetterman-trump-texas-senate-race-cornyn\/\">Fetterman suggests Trump &lsquo;lock down&rsquo; Texas Senate race with Cornyn endorsement<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4461130\/vance-denies-rivalry-rubio-2028-president\/\">Vance denies rivalry with Rubio amid 2028 speculation: &#8216;Working together&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SOUTHCOM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SOUTHCOM<\/a> commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known&hellip; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mib9XtptSB\">pic.twitter.com\/mib9XtptSB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Southcom\/status\/2023791027383890240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/SOUTHCOM?src=hashtag_click\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> #SOUTHCOM<\/a> commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,&rdquo; read the post. &ldquo;Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Eleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean,&rdquo; Southern Command reported about the casualties. &ldquo;No U.S. military forces were harmed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Monday&rsquo;s military operations against suspected narco-terrorists were the third, fourth, and fifth carried out in February and the sixth in 2026. It was the 42nd known strike conducted as part of Operation Southern Spear, with at least 144 known victims, according to a <em>New York Times<\/em> tracker.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4448389\/two-narco-terrorists-killed-in-latest-military-strike-in-eastern-pacific\/\"><strong>TWO &lsquo;NARCO-TERRORISTS&rsquo; KILLED IN LATEST MILITARY STRIKE IN EASTERN PACIFIC<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Operation Southern Spear was launched in 2025 at the request of President Donald Trump. The objective of the operation is to &ldquo;enhance security and stability across the Western Hemisphere by detecting, disrupting, and degrading transnational criminal and illicit maritime networks,&rdquo; according to a release on the U.S. Navy website.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >operation enhances maritime domain awareness<\/a>, supports regional stability, and helps prevent illicit activity from reaching the U.S. Homeland. These efforts reflect the Department&rsquo;s commitment to maintaining a safe, stable, and secure hemisphere,&rdquo; read the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/Press-Office\/News-Stories\/display-news\/Article\/4344883\/uss-gerald-r-ford-arrives-in-st-thomas-us-virgin-islands\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The first strikes against suspected drug-trafficking boats occurred on Sept. 2, 2025, in the Caribbean Sea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US Southern Command strikes three ships; 11 killed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2570884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-18-at-2.09.14-AM.png?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[13980,72905,65371,73997,73996],"class_list":["post-2570883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-casualties","tag-maritime-security-2","tag-narco-terrorism","tag-naval-strikes","tag-us-southern-command"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-18-at-2.09.14-AM.png?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2570883"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570887,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570883\/revisions\/2570887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2570884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2570883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2570883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2570883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}