Washington, November 14 (QNA) - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday the launch of a new military operation in Latin America aimed at what he described as "narco-terrorists".

Named Operation Southern Spear, the mission was unveiled in a post by Hegseth on the X platform (formerly Twitter), in which he wrote: "This mission defends our homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our hemisphere, and secures our homeland from the drugs that are killing our people."

The operation, led by United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), is designed to disrupt maritime narcotics networks operating in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.

As part of the deployment, the USS Gerald R. Ford -- the United States' newest and largest aircraft carrier -- entered the SOUTHCOM area of operations on Tuesday, strengthening interdiction efforts with expanded air and naval capabilities.

While Hegseth did not provide new details on the operation's rules of engagement or how it differs from previous campaigns, the announcement comes after a series of US strikes since September targeting vessels Washington says are used by drug-trafficking networks.

According to Pentagon figures, those strikes have resulted in the deaths of at least 76 people across approximately 20 vessels in international waters.

The US Department of Defense said the expanded force presence would "bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the US homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere." (QNA)