U.S. Southern Command introduced that the army launched strikes on three alleged drug smuggling boats within the jap Pacific and the Caribbean on Monday, killing 11 individuals.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessels had been transiting alongside identified narco-trafficking routes and had been engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” Southern Command mentioned Tuesday in a submit to X.
The strikes are the most recent in a sequence of controversial army operations which have alarmed and pissed off congressional critics of the administration, though lawmakers have opted to permit the strikes to proceed with out prior congressional approval.
Within the newest announcement, U.S. Southern Command alleged the three boats had been “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.” The submit referred to these killed as “male narco-terrorists,” saying that eight individuals had been killed on two boats within the jap Pacific and three had been killed on a ship within the Caribbean. No U.S. troops had been harmed, the submit mentioned.
The submit additionally mentioned the strikes had been carried out on the course of Marine Corps Gen. Francis Donovan, who serves because the commander of U.S. Southern Command.
The army has not supplied proof that the boats or individuals onboard had been concerned in drug trafficking or proof of the quantity killed. NBC Information has not independently verified the army’s claims.
The U.S. has launched greater than 40 strikes which have killed greater than 130 individuals, in keeping with official estimates supplied by the Protection Division.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth touted the strikes in a submit on X, writing, “Seems President’s Day — beneath President Trump — shouldn’t be a superb day to run medication.”
The Trump administration has claimed the strikes are wanted to cease the trafficking of medication which are killing Individuals, elevating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela — a significant drug transit hub, the U.S. alleges.
Critics of the strikes have painted the administration’s actions as lawless and irresponsible, criticism that reached a crescendo after stories that the army struck one of many boats twice, in the end killing two survivors.
In January, the U.S. launched a direct army assault on Venezuela, extraditing President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse to face narcoterrorism and different costs within the U.S. The Maduros have pleaded not responsible to the fees.
Appearing Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez has maintained that Maduro continues to be the respectable chief of Venezuela. President Donald Trump advised reporters on Monday that he believes Rodríguez “in all probability has to say that” for political causes., including that he thinks she is “doing an excellent job.”
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