The United States strikes three more suspected drug boats, killing eight

"The United States Southern Command announced early Tuesday morning that it had carried out attacks against three vessels in international waters, resulting in the deaths of eight people. Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking, the military stated in a post on the social media platform X, which included a video of the operation ordered by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth."

"The United States has bombed at least 26 suspected drug boats in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, near Venezuela, as part of a military campaign launched by U.S. President Donald Trump against drug trafficking from the region. At least 90 people have been killed in these attacks in international waters. The use of the armed forces with a massive deployment in the Caribbean that includes the U.S. Navy's largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford to strike boats suspected of drug trafficking represents a radical departure from the way the United States has historically operated."

"The Trump administration has sought to defend the legality of the attacks, which legal experts say amount to illegal extrajudicial killings. The controversy surrounding these actions has also reached Congress, where Admiral Frank Bradley who is in charge of Caribbean operations was called to testify after Hegseth was accused of ordering a second strike to finish off two survivors on a suspected drug-trafficking boat. Bradley denied that the secretary of defense gave such an order."

United States Southern Command conducted strikes on three vessels in international waters near Colombia, killing eight. Intelligence indicated the vessels were transiting known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and engaged in drug trafficking. The strikes form part of a wider campaign in which at least 26 suspected drug boats have been bombed in the Pacific and Caribbean, with at least 90 fatalities. The operations include a large Caribbean deployment featuring the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford. The Trump administration defends the actions as lawful, while legal experts call them illegal extrajudicial killings and Congress has probed the conduct of orders.

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