US military carries out another strike on vessel in Caribbean, killing 3

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said attacks to continue until ‘narco-terrorists’ stop ‘poisoning’ American people.

The United States military has carried out another lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said.

Three men were killed in the attack, Hegseth wrote in a post on X late on Thursday, which he said was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump and struck a “vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization”.

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Hegseth, who said the vessel was attacked in international waters, posted a 20-second video clip, marked unclassified, of the boat being struck by a munition and exploding as it sped through the water.

Though providing no evidence that the vessel was involved in drug smuggling, Hegseth said such attacks would continue until “narco-terrorists” stopped their “poisoning of the American people”.

“To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: If you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you keep trafficking deadly drugs – we will kill you,” he said.

Since early September, more than 60 people have been killed in US attacks on at least 18 vessels – 17 boats and a semi-submersible – in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk has condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial killing”, while US lawmakers – mostly Democrat, but also several senior Republicans – have demanded clarity from the Trump administration on the legal basis for carrying out deadly attacks in international waters.

The Trump administration has yet to publicly provide any substantial evidence proving its claims that the vessels are being operated by drug traffickers.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused Trump of seeking to destabilise his government through the attacks, as well as through a major military build-up of US naval forces in the region over recent months.

Maduro, who Trump accuses of being involved in drug trafficking, said Washington’s “war on drugs” was merely a pretext to topple him from power.

Trump has threatened to carry out direct strikes on Venezuelan territory. He has also publicly stated that he has authorised covert CIA operations to take place in the South American country to counter drug cartels.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans rejected legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorisation.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff – who pushed the resolution, which was voted down 51-49 – said it is an “open secret” that the build-up of US troops in the Caribbean was “much more about potential regime change” in Venezuela than stopping drug trafficking.

“If that’s where the administration is headed, if that’s what we’re risking – involvement in a war – then Congress needs to be heard on this,” Schiff said.