US military destroys alleged drug-trafficking boat in Pacific for first time | US military

The US military has attacked and destroyed another boat in its ongoing and controversial fight against what it describes as drug trafficking activities.

For the first time, the strike was carried out on the Pacific coast of South America. Previous attacks had hit seven ships and killed at least 34 people in the Caribbean.

In a short video released by US defense secretary Pete Hegseth, a small boat half-filled with brown packages can be seen moving through the sea. A few seconds into the video, the boat explodes and is seen floating motionless in flames.

In his post, Hegseth took the unusual step of equating alleged drug traffickers with the terrorist group that carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

“Just like Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Hegseth said, adding that “there will be no asylum or forgiveness, only justice.”

Donald Trump announced what appeared to be the first attack on a boat on September 3 by posting a short video of the attack.

The Trump administration has since detailed more attacks without revealing many details about the targets other than the number of people killed and the allegations that the boats were carrying narcotics. The attacks sparked widespread condemnation from both civil liberties groups and South American countries.

On Tuesday, the Guardian revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided much of the intelligence used to carry out the airstrikes. Experts say the agency’s central role means much of the evidence used to select targets will almost certainly remain secret.

The president confirmed last Wednesday that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela, but did not say what the agency would do.

Reuters contributed to this report