US Military strike in Caribbean kills 3, Saint Lucian fishermen feared among victims 

Saint Lucia: In a shocking development, United States military has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea on Friday. The development has reportedly killed three people, two of whom was from Saint Lucia.

The attack was confirmed by the US Southern Command who said that the American forces conducted what it referred to as a “lethal kinetic strike”. The Command said that they were targeting individuals who they suspected of carrying out drug trafficking and called them ‘narco-terrorists’ however they have not yet provided any evidence to support their claims publicly.

“On Feb. 13, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” confirmed the command on its official Facebook account.

The recent attack has led to rising tensions among the fishing sector of Saint Lucia has it is being believed that two of the deceased was a Saint Lucian fishermen.

Notably, this attack forms part of a series of operations in the Caribbean region which have reportedly killed at least 133 individuals since September last year. The latest strike has once again sparked anger and anxiety among Saint Lucian fishermen as several of them are saying that they are scared to even go out in the sea.

Talking about the same, Operations Manager of the Goodwill Fishermen Cooperative, Kaygianna Toussaint Charlery said that major concerns among the fishing community has intensified over the weekend. She further explained that the fishermen have long worried about being caught in regional security tensions due to shared waters, but she said that the possibility now feels more real.

Toussaint Charley added that if the details are correct, it will mean that it has happened to two of them and noted that the conversations within the sector have grown more urgent across Saint Lucia and the wider Caribbean region. According to her, fishing is not simply a profession but a lifeline for several families of Saint Lucia.

She stressed that if the fishermen does not feel comfortable going out to sea, then there will be lesser trips, and the question becomes what happens to their income as well as their ability to put food on the table. The Operations Manager also highlighted that the fear could ripple beyond individual fishermen to affect national food supply as well as household stability.