Since September, the Trump administration has conducted an undeclared war in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing scores of civilians. The Intercept is chronicling all publicly declared U.S. attacks and providing a tracker with information on each strike.<\/p>\n
The administration insists the attacks are permitted because the U.S. is engaged in \u201cnon-international armed conflict<\/a>\u201d with \u201cdesignated terrorist organizations<\/a>,\u201d or DTOs. President Donald Trump has justified the attacks, in a War Powers report <\/a>to Congress, under his Article II constitutional authority as commander in chief of the U.S. military and claimed to be acting pursuant to the United States\u2019 inherent right of self-defense as a matter of international law. The Justice Department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel has also produced a classified opinion that provides legal cover<\/a> for the lethal strikes.<\/p>\n Experts in the laws of war and members of Congress, from both parties<\/a>, say the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians \u2014 even suspected criminals \u2014 who do not pose an imminent threat of violence. The summary executions are a significant departure from standard practice in the long-running U.S. war on drugs<\/a>, in which law enforcement agencies arrested suspected drug smugglers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Pentagon has repeatedly withheld <\/a>information on the attacks from members of Congress and the American public, despite mounting questions from lawmakers about the legality of these deadly strikes.<\/p>\n So The Intercept is publishing a strike tracker documenting America\u2019s newest war. The locations and casualty figures are drawn from information provided by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees <\/a>military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Office of the Secretary of War, and social media posts by Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n Number of Strikes<\/p>\n Total Killed<\/p>\n Total Captured<\/p>\n 21 November 15, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> November 10, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 4<\/a> November 9, 2025 <\/p>\n Death toll: 6 killed in two strikes<\/a>, 3 aboard each ship. Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.<\/p>\n These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ocUoGzwwDO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n November 6, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> November 4, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 2<\/a> November 1, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> October 29, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 4<\/a> Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific. <\/p>\n This vessel, like all the others, was known by our\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/mBOLA5RYQe<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n October 27, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 14<\/a> killed in three separate strikes \u2014 with one reported survivor (eight aboard one boat, four on another and three on the last). The Mexican Navy failed to find the survivor, who is presumed to be dead, bringing the total to 15. Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.<\/p>\n The four vessels were known by our intelligence\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/UhoFlZ3jPG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n October 23 or 24, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 6<\/a> October 22, 2025 <\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.<\/p>\n The\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/PEaKmakivD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n October 21, 2025 <\/p>\n Death toll: 2<\/a> October 17, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ej\u00e9rcito de Liberaci\u00f3n Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.<\/p>\n The\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/1v7oR879LC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n October 16, 2025 <\/p>\n Death toll: 2 killed<\/a>, 2 captured<\/a> and later repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador. October 14, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 6<\/a> October 2, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 4<\/a> Earlier this morning, on President Trump’s orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/QpNPljFcGn<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n September 19, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> September 15, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 3<\/a> September 2, 2025<\/p>\n Death toll: 11<\/a>
\n83
\n2<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: \u201cNarcoterrorists\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Both in Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organizations <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Tren de Aragua (Venezuela) <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Pacific Ocean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Ej\u00e9rcito de Liberaci\u00f3n Nacional (Colombia) <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: \u201cNarcoterrorists\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization <\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: \u201cDrug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTheater: Caribbean
\nTarget: Tren de Aragua (Venezuela)<\/p>\n