How Many People Has the U.S. Killed in Boat Strikes?

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.

The administration insists the attacks are permitted because the U.S. is engaged in “non-international armed conflict” with “designated terrorist organizations,” or DTOs. President Donald Trump has justified the attacks, in a War Powers report 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’ inherent right of self-defense as a matter of international law. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has also produced a classified opinion that provides legal cover for the lethal strikes.

Experts in the laws of war and members of Congress, from both parties, say the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even suspected criminals — 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, in which law enforcement agencies arrested suspected drug smugglers.

The Pentagon has repeatedly withheld information on the attacks from members of Congress and the American public, despite mounting questions from lawmakers about the legality of these deadly strikes.

So The Intercept is publishing a strike tracker documenting America’s newest war. The locations and casualty figures are drawn from information provided by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees 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.

Number of Strikes	Total Killed	Total Captured
21	83	2

November 15, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

November 10, 2025

• Death toll: 4
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: “Narcoterrorists”

November 9, 2025

• Death toll: 6 killed in two strikes, 3 aboard each ship.
• Theater: Both in Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organizations

Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.

These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and… pic.twitter.com/ocUoGzwwDO

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 10, 2025

November 6, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

November 4, 2025

• Death toll: 2
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

November 1, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

October 29, 2025

• Death toll: 4
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

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.

This vessel, like all the others, was known by our… pic.twitter.com/mBOLA5RYQe

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 29, 2025

October 27, 2025

• Death toll: 14 killed in three separate strikes — 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.
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

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.

The four vessels were known by our intelligence… pic.twitter.com/UhoFlZ3jPG

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 28, 2025

October 23 or 24, 2025

• Death toll: 6
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Tren de Aragua (Venezuela)

October 22, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

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.

The… pic.twitter.com/PEaKmakivD

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 23, 2025

October 21, 2025

• Death toll: 2
• Theater: Pacific Ocean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

October 17, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Ejército de Liberación Nacional (Colombia)

On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

The… pic.twitter.com/1v7oR879LC

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 19, 2025

October 16, 2025

• Death toll: 2 killed, 2 captured and later repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: “Narcoterrorists”

October 14, 2025

• Death toll: 6
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

October 2, 2025

• Death toll: 4
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

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… pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025

September 19, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization

September 15, 2025

• Death toll: 3
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: “Drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists”

September 2, 2025

• Death toll: 11
• Theater: Caribbean
• Target: Tren de Aragua (Venezuela)

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