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A Unit­ed States mil­i­tary op­er­a­tion tar­get­ing sus­pect­ed nar­co-traf­fick­ers in the Caribbean has left four men dead, in what of­fi­cials de­scribe as a “lethal ki­net­ic strike” along a known drug traf­fick­ing route.

In a state­ment is­sued on March 25, US South­ern Com­mand (SOUTH­COM) said the op­er­a­tion was car­ried out un­der the di­rec­tion of its com­man­der, Gen. Fran­cis L. Dono­van.

“Joint Task Force South­ern Spear con­duct­ed a lethal ki­net­ic strike on a ves­sel… en­gaged in nar­co-traf­fick­ing op­er­a­tions,” the state­ment said.