Four people were killed in a US military strike on Wednesday against a ship allegedly carrying drugs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon said, as quoted by CBC News. It is the latest in a series of strikes dating back to early September that the US has carried out against drug trafficking vessels in the region.
On social media, the US Southern Command, which oversees US military operations in Central and South America, said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered a "lethal strike against a vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in international waters".
As with previous such strikes, the Southern Command also released an unclassified video showing the vessel being struck.
"Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was traveling along a known drug trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was involved in drug trafficking operations," the Southern Command said.
The victims were described as "four male narco-terrorists". The US military has not provided evidence to support the claims that the ship was carrying drugs.
According to the Pentagon, 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.
The strikes have been renewed in recent weeks after the White House, following a report by The Washington Post, confirmed that the same boat was hit twice in the September 2 attack, or what it described as a "double tap" or follow-on strike.
A total of 11 people were killed in the two September 2 strikes, according to the US military.
Although video footage of the September 2 strikes has been shown to some members of Congress in classified briefings, there has been pressure on the Pentagon to release the video. However, Hegseth said he would not do so.
"We are certainly not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of this to the general public," Hegseth told reporters.
Some lawmakers and legal experts have argued that the second strike could constitute a war crime.
The strikes on the vessels are part of a pressure campaign by the Trump administration on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whom it accuses of involvement in drug trafficking to the United States and collaboration with drug cartels. Venezuela has criticized the strikes on the vessels, and Maduro denies working with drug cartels. The Venezuelan government has accused the Trump administration of seeking regime change.
The United States has significantly increased its military presence in the Caribbean and near Latin America, and President Trump has said he is not ruling out sending troops to Venezuela or conducting ground strikes there.
The U.S. military seized a sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuela last week. On Tuesday, Trump announced that he had ordered a "complete and total blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
On Wednesday, House Democrats failed to force a vote on two war powers resolutions that would limit the president's authority to strike Venezuela or continue to strike suspected drug ships.