Colombia authorises joint anti-drug ops with US military

Colombia has authorised joint military operations with the United States to target drug traffickers, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Aug 12, expanding Washington's campaign against cartels in Latin America.



Bogota "has already requested that the (Pentagon) join Colombia in its fight against narco-terrorism, authorising joint military operations to destroy terrorist and terror networks", Hegseth said at an anti-cartel conference in Panama.



"Aggressive and concrete steps like these exemplify the types of active participation, operationally focused, we want to see from our partners," he added.



Last September, the US military launched a campaign of air strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that have killed at least 215 people to date.



US President Donald Trump's administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has been striking are involved in drug trafficking.