The U.S. Has Killed More than 100 People in Boat Strikes. We’re Tracking Them All.
The Intercept is keeping count of all publicly declared U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
By Nick Turse/The Intercept
Since September 2025, 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: 42
Total Killed: 145
Total Captured: 2
February 16, 2026
Death toll: 11 killed in three strikes, 8 of them in the Pacific Ocean, 3 in the Caribbean Sea.
Theater: 2 strikes in the Pacific, 1 in the Caribbean.
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
February 13, 2026
Death toll: 3
Theater: Carribean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
February 9, 2026
Death toll: 2 killed, leaving one survivor whose current status is not known.
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
February 5, 2026
Death toll: 2
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
January 23, 2026
Death toll: 2, leaving one survivor. The Coast Guard failed to find the survivor, who is presumed to be dead, bringing the total to 3.
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 31, 2025
Death toll: 5 killed in two strikes, 3 aboard one ship and 2 aboard the other
Theater: Unspecified
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 30, 2025
Death toll: 11 killed in three strikes. U.S. Southern Command initially announced that three people were killed in a strike on one boat, and an unnamed number of survivors evacuated the other two boats. The Coast Guard later called off its search for the survivors. After questions from The Intercept, SOUTHCOM added eight more to the death toll.
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization
December 29, 2025
Death toll: 2
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 22, 2025
Death toll: 1
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 18, 2025
Death toll: 5 killed in two strikes, death tolls of 3 and 2
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 17, 2025
Death toll: 4
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 15, 2025
Death toll: 8 killed in three strikes, death tolls of 3, 2, and 3
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 4, 2025
Death toll: 4
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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)
By Nick Turse/The Intercept
Since September 2025, 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: 42
Total Killed: 145
Total Captured: 2
February 16, 2026
Death toll: 11 killed in three strikes, 8 of them in the Pacific Ocean, 3 in the Caribbean Sea.
Theater: 2 strikes in the Pacific, 1 in the Caribbean.
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
February 13, 2026
Death toll: 3
Theater: Carribean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
February 9, 2026
Death toll: 2 killed, leaving one survivor whose current status is not known.
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
February 5, 2026
Death toll: 2
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
January 23, 2026
Death toll: 2, leaving one survivor. The Coast Guard failed to find the survivor, who is presumed to be dead, bringing the total to 3.
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 31, 2025
Death toll: 5 killed in two strikes, 3 aboard one ship and 2 aboard the other
Theater: Unspecified
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 30, 2025
Death toll: 11 killed in three strikes. U.S. Southern Command initially announced that three people were killed in a strike on one boat, and an unnamed number of survivors evacuated the other two boats. The Coast Guard later called off its search for the survivors. After questions from The Intercept, SOUTHCOM added eight more to the death toll.
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization
December 29, 2025
Death toll: 2
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 22, 2025
Death toll: 1
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 18, 2025
Death toll: 5 killed in two strikes, death tolls of 3 and 2
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 17, 2025
Death toll: 4
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 15, 2025
Death toll: 8 killed in three strikes, death tolls of 3, 2, and 3
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
December 4, 2025
Death toll: 4
Theater: Pacific Ocean
Target: Unspecified Designated Terrorist Organization.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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)
