The United States struck two alleged drug-carrying vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Sunday, killing six people on board, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
"Yesterday, at the direction of President (Donald) Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," Hegseth wrote on X on Monday.
The vessels were "known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling" and were carrying narcotics while "transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific," according to Hegseth.
Both strikes occurred in international waters with three individuals aboard each vessel. "All 6 were killed," Hegseth said, adding that no US forces were harmed.
"Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people," the defence secretary said.
A military buildup
The US has carried out more than a dozen strikes since September on vessels near the Venezuelan coast and, more recently, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 70 people, according to the US defence secretary, as it escalates a military buildup in the Caribbean Sea.
The US has alleged that the boats it bombed were transporting drugs, but foreign leaders, some members of Congress, legal experts and family members of those killed have called for proof.
The United Nations human rights chief has called the US strikes on alleged drug dealers unacceptable and a violation of international human rights law.
Venezuela says they are illegal, amount to murder and are aggression against the sovereign South American country.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused Donald Trump of seeking to topple his government, an allegation the US president has downplayed despite reports of the administration's close contact with Venezuela's opposition.
In September, the US built up its military presence in the Caribbean - including a nuclear submarine and a group of warships accompanying the world's largest aircraft carrier - prompting Maduro to shore up security powers and deploy tens of thousands of troops around the country.
