3 alleged Colombia ELN narco-terrorists killed in US army strike at sea

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Three alleged narco-terrorists have been killed in a U.S. strike on a drug smuggling vessel affiliated with Colombia’s Nationwide Liberation Military, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth introduced Sunday.

The "deadly kinetic strike" occurred Friday in worldwide waters on the route of President Donald Trump , Hegseth wrote in a publish on X.

"The vessel was identified by our intelligence to be concerned in illicit narcotics smuggling, was touring alongside a identified narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial quantities of narcotics," Hegseth wrote. "There have been three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel through the strike—which was carried out in worldwide waters."

"All three terrorists have been killed and no U.S. forces have been harmed on this strike," he added.

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Hegseth additionally shared unclassified video exhibiting the second of the strike.

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/672/378/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1344/756/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/931/523/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1862/1046/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> The vessel was linked to Colombia's Nationwide Liberation Military, generally known as Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), Hegseth mentioned. (Division of Warfare)

Colombia’s Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) is a Designated Terrorist Organization . Hegseth likened the Colombian insurgent group to the Al Qaeda terror group based by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/672/378/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1344/756/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/931/523/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1862/1046/us-strikes-drug-smuggling-vessel-kills-3-alleged-terrorists.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Hegseth mentioned the vessel was trafficking narcotics. (Division of Warfare)

"These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, utilizing violence, homicide and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our nationwide safety and poison our individuals," Hegseth wrote. "The USA army will deal with these organizations just like the terrorists they're—they are going to be hunted, and killed, similar to Al Qaeda."

Hegseth attends a gathering of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, after a gathering of NATO Defence Ministers on the Alliance headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct. 15, 2025. (Reuters/Yves Herman)

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The Friday strike brings the dying toll from the Trump administration’s army marketing campaign in opposition to suspected drug-smuggling vessels within the area to at the very least 31. The operations started final month and are a part of Trump’s broader effort to dismantle transnational cartels by pressure.

On Thursday, the U.S. army carried out a strike on what Trump later referred to as a "very giant drug-carrying submarine" within the Caribbean, killing two suspected narco-terrorists and capturing two others alive.

Fox Information beforehand confirmed that two survivors have been rescued by the U.S. Navy after the strike and have been being held aboard an American warship.