US expands attack campaign on vessels and now target "replenishment" boats

One year after the start of the American military campaign of attacks on vessels, the United States appear to be targeting a new type of ship: large fishing boats off the coast of Ecuador that, according to the government of President Donald Trump, supply fuel to smaller vessels that transport drugs. On Tuesday night, the country's Armed Forces announced the sixth operation of this kind in two weeks, releasing a video showing a helicopter flying over the ocean and military personnel boarding a large fishing boat to remove the crew, before the vessel exploded. US Southern Command stated that the boat, along with five other large vessels destroyed off the coast of Ecuador since August 28, functioned as a "floating refueling station," supplying the type of smaller vessels used to smuggle drugs.