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Press Release | Feb. 17, 2026

Lethal Kinetic Strikes, Feb. 16, 2026

Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Marine 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 narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.

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. No U.S. military forces were harmed.