Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said late Thursday that the US military pulled out one more Three “narco-terrorists” died on board an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean.
Hegseth said the ship was operated by a designated terrorist organization and was blown up in international waters. It is not clear which terrorist group the Defense Secretary was referring to. No American soldiers were harmed in the operation.
“As we have said before, vessel strikes against narco-terrorists will continue until they stop poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said in a statement.Postsocial platform
US forces have carried out 17 attacks since the campaign began in early September, killing at least 70 people. These attacks took place in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific region.
The attacks have drawn reaction from Democrats and some Republicans as lawmakers have asked the administration to provide more information about the targets, the legality of the operation and the selection of boats.
The administration has provided at least 13 talkwhich includes a classified one in the Senate on Wednesday It was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hegseth. The briefing did not allay the concerns of some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), while others, including Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters that lawmakers got a general explanation of how the targets are selected, but questions still remain about the “exact structure.”
“What happens when there is someone around who may be innocent? These are the things that [Defense Department (DOD)] We’re used to thinking about, and we still haven’t reached that level of detail. So again, I’m not too concerned about them taking a fishing boat, because our intelligence community is very, very good, but I don’t believe we know exactly who is in those boats and why they are there,” Himes said Wednesday.
As the administration continues attacks on boats, DOD has created a huge military presence In the US Southern Command area of responsibility in view of rising tensions between Washington and Caracas, Venezuela.
Trump and other officials have called Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro an “illegitimate leader,” and the president said during a recent interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that Maduro’s days were numbered.
Trump has hinted several times that he might order the US to carry out strikes inside Venezuela, but has not yet done so.
Earlier Thursday, GOP senators won by a 51-49 vote blocked A war powers resolution, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), would have prevented the president from carrying out potential military strikes inside Venezuela without congressional approval.
