At least one US military strike in the Caribbean over the last two months targeted Colombian nationals on a boat that had left from Colombia, according to two people briefed by the Pentagon about the strikes.
The deliberate targeting of Colombians, which has not been previously reported, suggests that the US military’s campaign against suspected narcotics trafficking groups in the Caribbean is wider than previously believed as President Donald Trump threatened further military and covert action Wednesday.
The US military has carried out at least five strikes to date on five separate boats in the Caribbean. The third publicly acknowledged strike on September 19 targeted a boat leaving Colombia, the sources said.
The boat was suspected of carrying Colombians affiliated with Colombian terrorist organizations, the sources said, but the Pentagon was unable to determine the individual identities of each person on the boats before they struck them.
The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, CNN has reported.
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