Defense department watchdog opens inquiry into US airstrikes on alleged drug boats [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Tue 19 May 2026 11.53 EDT
Last modified on Tue 19 May 2026 13.28 EDT


The Pentagon’s internal watchdog has opened an investigation into whether US military commanders followed proper procedures when conducting boat strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. The office of inspector general at the Department of Defense is examining whether military commanders stuck to the standard six-step process the US military is required to follow before approving and carrying out lethal strikes, according to an 11 May memo initiating the review.

The review covers operations run by US Southern Command, which oversees American military activity across the region and is based in Doral, Florida. The Pentagon declined to comment. Southern Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Operation Southern Spear, a US military campaign to strike boats in the Caribbean Sea, has sparked mass outrage and allegations that the US has violated international law.

The Trump administration has described the operation as an effort to fight “narco-traffickers” from Latin America on their way to the US. The US has since conducted at least 58 attacks, according to a tracker from the law journal Just Security, killing 193 people, including 13 missing and presumed dead. The administration has also insisted the operation is “on firm legal ground”.

In November Sean Parnell, then chief spokesperson at the Pentagon, said: “Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in complete compliance with the law of armed conflict.”. The inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what prompted the investigation, and when it would publish the findings, on Tuesday. The office did tell Bloomberg News that the inquiry was self-initiated, and did not come from a congressional request.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/19/defense-department-inquiry-airstrikes-alleged-drug-boats