Washington, United State
US and Ecuadoran forces conducted joint strikes inside Ecuador as part of ongoing operations to combat drug trafficking in the South American country, according to a statement by US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).
The statement posted to X said SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis Donovan, at the order of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, “directed the joint force to support Ecuadorian forces conducting lethal kinetic operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations within Ecuador March 6.”
No details on casualties were immediately provided.
Ecuador’s right-wing President Daniel Noboa said in an Instagram post the strikes targeted a training camp belonging to a dissident faction of the FARC guerilla group.
The operation was carried out in the northeastern province of Sucumbios near the border with Colombia.
“We destroyed the hideout of Mono Tole, the leader of the CDF (Border Commandos), and a training area for drug traffickers,” the 38-year-old leader wrote in the post, which was accompanied by a video of a house exploding in a forested area.
“I congratulate our joint forces and the Ecuadorian armed forces for the successful operation against narcoterrorists in Ecuador,” Donovan said in a statement.
“This collaborative and decisive action is a strategic success for all nations in the Western Hemisphere committed to disrupting and defeating narcoterrorism.”
Noboa, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, previously said that Washington was among “regional allies” taking part in the operation against drug cartels, which use Ecuador’s ports to smuggle cocaine to international markets.
Noboa earlier this week held talks in Quito with Donovan and Mark Schafer, head of US Special Operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
During the meeting, they discussed plans for information sharing and operational coordination at airports and seaports, Noboa’s office said in a statement.
Around 70 percent of the drugs produced by Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest and second-largest cocaine producers, respectively, are shipped through neighboring Ecuador.
The drug trade has unleashed a bloody turf war that has turned one of Latin America’s safest countries into one of its deadliest in the space of a few years.
The United States and Ecuador have boosted their security cooperation since the right-wing Noboa came to power in 2023.
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Strong joint operation by the US and Ecuador against drug trafficking — an important step for regional security.
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