Hegseth announces 16th deadly US strike on an alleged drug boat
The latest attack killed two people, raising the total death toll from the controversial US campaign in South American waters to at least 66
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.
The attack on Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes.
US President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States was in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats were operated by foreign terror organisations. The administration has not provided evidence or more details.
“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens,” Hegseth posted while on a trip to Asia.
US lawmakers from both parties have pressed the Trump administration for more information on who was being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes given that Congress has not authorised military action.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk last week called for the US to halt the attacks and “prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats”.