Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday introduced one other lethal US strike on a ship he mentioned was trafficking narcotics within the Caribbean Sea.
The assault Thursday killed three individuals aboard the vessel, Hegseth mentioned, bringing the demise toll from the Trump administration's marketing campaign in South American waters as much as at the least 69 individuals in at the least 17 strikes.
Hegseth posted a 20-second video of the strike on social media and wrote, “As we've mentioned earlier than, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will proceed till their … poisoning of the American individuals stops.”
He claimed the vessel was “operated by a Designated Terrorist Group.”
President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the US is in “armed battle” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by overseas terror organizations.
The administration has not offered proof or extra particulars.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed a small group of congressional leaders Wednesday on the rising army marketing campaign, offering one of many first high-level glimpses into the authorized rationale and technique behind the strikes.
Republicans emerged both staying silent or expressing confidence within the marketing campaign.
Democrats mentioned Congress wants extra data on how the strikes are carried out and the authorized justification for actions that critics say violate worldwide and US legislation by killing alleged drug smugglers on the excessive seas.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to reject laws that will have put a examine on Trump's capacity to launch an assault in opposition to Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger function in Trump's high-stakes marketing campaign in opposition to President Nicolás Maduro.
