Trump says six were killed in US strike on another boat allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela | Trump administration

Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the United States crashed into another small boat that it accused of transporting drugs in waters off Venezuela, killing all six people on board.

“The attack took place in International Waters and all six men on board were killed in a narcoterrorist attack,” Trump said. in question Truth Social said in a statement on its social media platform. “No US forces were harmed”.”

Trump added that “intelligence confirmed the ship was smuggling drugs” and was “connected to illegal narcoterrorist networks.” Trump said that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave the order for the attack on Tuesday morning and shared video footage of the attack, as in previous attacks.

This marks the fifth deadly US attack in the Caribbean. Associated Pressand comes just weeks after Trump administration officials said the United States was currently engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.

A Trump administration memo obtained by the New York Times earlier this month said Trump considers drug-trafficking cartels to be “non-state armed groups” whose actions “constitute an armed attack against the United States.”

The United States defended the boat attacks as attacks against “narco-terrorist” members of Tren de Aragua, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The White House argued that military intervention was necessary to de-escalate tensions to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

But some lawmakers and human rights groups questioned the legality of the attacks. United Nations experts in September US condemned the attacks Drug smuggling is believed to take place on small boats as extrajudicial killings.

“International law does not allow governments to simply kill alleged drug traffickers,” experts said. “Criminal activities must be stopped, investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the rule of law, including international cooperation.”

Last week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said there were “indications” that one of the recently targeted boats was Colombian and that “there were Colombians on board.”

The White House quickly pushed back against Petro’s claims. sue He demanded that the White House retract his statement, which he described as “baseless and reprehensible.”

Also last week, a U.S. Senate effort to block further U.S. strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela without congressional approval failed after nearly all Republicans and Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted against the measure.