US attacks another suspected drug boat in Eastern Pacific, 4 dead, Pentagon says
Four people were killed in a US military strike Wednesday on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, the Pentagon said. It marks the latest in the series of strikes since early September that the US has carried out on what it says are drug-trafficking vessels in the region.
In a statement, the US Southern Command, which oversees US military operations in Central and South America, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered a “lethal strike by a vessel operated by a Terrorist Terrorist Organization in international waters.”
As has been the case with previous strikes, the Southern Command also posted an unseen video showing the boat being hit.
“Intelligence has confirmed that the ship was passing through a known drug trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in drug trafficking,” said the Southern Command.
The victims were described as “four drug terrorists.” The US Navy has not provided evidence to support the allegations that the boat was carrying drugs.
The US military has carried out 26 strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific or Caribbean since September 2, killing at least 99 people, according to the Pentagon.
In recent weeks, there has been a reconsideration of the strikes after the White House, following a report by The Washington Post, confirmed that the attack of September 2the same boat was hit twice, or what has been described as a “double tap” or follow-on claim.
Two sources told CBS News that the next strike killed two people who survived the first strike and were waving high. A separate source is familiar with the matter he told CBS News that the two survivors were trying to get back on the boat.
A total of 11 people were killed in the two strikes on September 2, according to the US military.
While the video of the September 2 claims shown to some congressional lawmakers in classified interviews, there was a push for the Pentagon to release the video publicly. However, Hegseth, speaking Tuesday on Capitol Hill, he said no do so.
“It’s true that we’re not going to release a private, full and unedited video to the public,” Hegseth told reporters.
Some lawmakers and legal experts have argued that a second strike would constitute a war crime.
The ship strikes were part of a pressure campaign by the Trump administration against embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whom they accuse of involvement in drug trafficking to the US and working with drug cartels. Venezuela has condemned the boat strikes, and Maduro denies working with drug cartels. The Venezuelan government has accused the Trump administration of seeking regime change.
The US has it it became very strong its military presence in the Caribbean and near Latin America, and President Trump has said he will not withdraw it or sending troops to Venezuela or to make land strikes There.
US military seized an oil tanker that was allowed near Venezuela last week. And on Tuesday, Mr. Trump announced he had ordered a “total and complete embargo” on all oil tankers allowed into or out of Venezuela.
Wednesday, effort by House Democrats forcing votes on bilateral war resolutions that would limit the president’s authority to strike Venezuela or continue strikes on alleged drug boats have failed.
