(MENAFN- Live Mint) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a US military operation that he said would target "narco-terrorists" in the Western Hemisphere.

He formally named the anti-drug mission in the Caribbean“Operation Southern Spear.”

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“President Trump ordered action - and the Department of War is delivering. Today, I'm announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR,” Pete Hegseth said in a post on X.

He said,“Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorist from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.”

The US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is the military's combatant command that encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean.

The move emphasises the growing significance and permanence of the military's presence in the region, which started over the summer as part of what the Trump administration is calling its war against narcoterrorism.

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At least 19 known US strikes on vessels in South American waters have killed 76 people.

The newly named operation will encompass nearly a dozen US Navy ships, as well as around 12,000 sailors and Marines who will be in the area after the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, the Associated Press reported.

US conducts 20th strike

On Monday, the US conducted its 20th strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat, a Pentagon official was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying on Thursday.

"The strike occurred in the Caribbean and four narco-terrorists were killed, no survivors," the official said.

The official said the strike killed 79 people, and two were wounded and repatriated to their home countries, while there was one attempted rescue at sea by Mexican authorities as a result of the strikes.

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Earlier on 10 November, Pete Hegseth posted on X, "...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 were transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific,” he said.

“Both strikes were conducted in international waters and 3 male narco-terrorists were aboard each vessel. All 6 were killed. No US forces were harmed,” Pete Hegseth added.

“Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people,” the US official said.

The US strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coasts of Latin America have killed dozens of people, whom the Trump administration calls drug-trafficking terrorists responsible for thousands of deaths in the United States, without providing evidence.

The US government has not publicly explained the legal justification for its decision to attack the boats.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pushed back against criticism from some US allies over the legality of the strikes, saying Europeans don't get to dictate how Washington defends its national security.

(With inputs from agencies)

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