US kills two more people in latest strike on vessel in the Pacific

At least 67 people have been killed in US attacks on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific since early September, according to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who also killed two people in a separate attack on a vessel in the Pacific.

Hegseth claimed in a post on social media late on Tuesday that the most recent vessel attacked was involved in “illicit narcotics smuggling,” despite legal experts’ claims that these attacks constitute extrajudicial killings, even if the victims are suspected of drug trafficking.

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Hegseth claimed that US forces attacked the vessel in “international waters in the Eastern Pacific” at the president’s request and that it was “transiting along a known narco-trafficking route” and “carrying narcotics.”

Hegseth did not provide any details about drug trafficking, but a quick aerial video of the attack showed what appeared to be a ship floating in water before being hit by a missile and bursting into flames and smoke.

The video was edited by the US military to prevent viewers from seeing the vessel’s occupants.

“We will locate and destroy EVERY vessel with the intention of bringing drugs into the country to obliterate our citizens.” Our top priority is always going to be protecting the homeland, Hegseth stated in a post on X in addition to the video.

At least 17 vessels have been targeted by US military strikes since early September, including 16 boats and a semi-submersible, but the Trump administration hasn’t made any public proof that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the country.

Governments and victims’ families in Latin America have condemned the strikes and accused Washington of killing primarily fishermen, while both the Republican and Democratic Party lawmakers have demanded more information about the legal justification for US actions in international waters.

Volker Turk, the head of the UN’s human rights office, demanded last week that the US stop its attacks and “prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is a part of a US military effort to combat alleged drug cartels that are threatening the US as it learns about the latest killings.

Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of using its most recent “war on drugs” as a pretext to remove him from power. He is accused of being involved in drug trafficking.

Trump was questioned about how many years Maduro’s presidency had been up for him during an interview that aired on the US CBS channel on Sunday.

“Yes, I would say. Yes, I believe so, the president said.

However, he did not respond to a query regarding his intention to launch strikes inside Venezuela.