February 16, 2026
US kills 133 in 39 boat strikes since September with no evidence released
SOUTHCOM strikes three more boats on Feb. 16, calling victims "narco-terrorists" without documentation
🌍Foreign Policy🛡️National Security⚖️Justice
On Feb. 16, 2026, U.S. Southern Command struck three boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific under Operation Southern Spear, killing 11 people. That brings the total death toll to at least 133 people killed in at least 39 attacks since September 2025.
SOUTHCOM has released no evidence after any of the 39 strikes — no seized drugs, no vessel identification, no identities or nationalities of those killed. The military labels victims as narco-terrorists in social media posts accompanied by short video clips of the boats exploding.
The legal authority for the strikes comes from an Office of Legal Counsel memo arguing lethal force is permissible against unflagged vessels carrying cocaine because cartels use drug revenue to fund violence. International law experts and the UN say this reasoning is legally untested and doesn't meet the threshold for armed conflict.
The U.N. Secretary-General and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk both called on the U.S. to halt the strikes in October 2025. Türk said they amount to extrajudicial killing of people aboard the boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them.
In September 2025, a first Caribbean strike killed shipwreck survivors clinging to wreckage. Subsequent reporting cited orders to kill everybody. Defense Secretary Hegseth and SOUTHCOM commander Admiral Frank Bradley gave conflicting accounts of who authorized the follow-up strike. The Senate Armed Services Committee launched a bipartisan investigation.
In November 2025, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and five Democratic colleagues filmed a video urging military personnel to refuse illegal orders related to the strikes. Trump called them traitors deserving sedition charges. The Pentagon announced an investigation into Kelly.
The Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2026 NDAA in December 2025 with a bipartisan amendment flagging oversight concerns about the boat strike campaign. The amendment reflected rare bipartisan friction over an executive military operation.
Families of two people from Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago killed in an October 2025 strike filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government in January 2026, arguing the strikes violated international law and U.S. due process obligations.
The week before the Feb. 16 strikes, Defense Secretary Hegseth declared that some top cartel drug-traffickers had decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to the strikes. He provided no data or evidence to support the claim.
🌍Foreign Policy🛡️National Security⚖️Justice
People, bills, and sources
Gen. Francis L. Donovan
Commander, U.S. Southern Command
Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Defense
Donald Trump
President of the United States
Volker Türk
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
U.S. Senator; member of Senate Armed Services Committee
What you can do
1
civic action
Ask your senator where they stand on accountability for Operation Southern Spear
The Senate Armed Services Committee launched a bipartisan investigation after the September 2025 survivor-killing controversy and the Senate passed NDAA language flagging oversight concerns. Your senator can demand the Pentagon release evidence for each strike, including drug seizures and the identities of those killed.
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I'm a constituent from [STATE]. I'm calling about Operation Southern Spear — the U.S. military campaign that has killed at least 133 people in the Caribbean and Pacific. I'm asking Senator [NAME] to demand the Pentagon release evidence — drug seizures, identities, nationalities — for every strike. Can you tell me the senator's current position on the accountability investigation?
2
educational
Learn the difference between armed conflict and law enforcement under international law
The Trump administration frames the boat strikes as part of an armed conflict with drug cartels. If that designation is accepted, it changes the legal rules — law of war rules allow lethal force against combatants without judicial process, while law enforcement requires due process. Understanding this distinction is essential to evaluating whether the strikes are legal.
Search non-international armed conflict threshold at ihl-databases.icrc.org to understand the legal criteria for armed conflict and how courts evaluate whether a situation meets that threshold.
3
civic action
Contact your House representative about the OLC memo authorizing the strikes
The Office of Legal Counsel memo authorizing the strikes has not been publicly released. Congress can demand its disclosure through oversight hearings. House Armed Services Committee members have jurisdiction to subpoena the memo and hold hearings on whether the legal theory underlying the strikes is valid.
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I'm a constituent from [DISTRICT]. I'm asking Rep. [NAME] to demand the Pentagon publicly release the Office of Legal Counsel memo authorizing the boat strikes under Operation Southern Spear. At least 133 people have been killed with no evidence released. I want to know whether my representative believes Congress should see the legal justification for these strikes.