(Reuters) -Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a U.S. military operation that he said would target “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere.

“Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” Hegseth said in a post on X.

The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is the U.S. military’s combatant command that encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Toronto;)

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