The U.S. military conducted a strike on a vessel in international waters in the Caribbean on Thursday that killed three people, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. Hegseth announced the operation in a post on X and posted an unclassified 20-second video clip showing a boat being struck and exploding.
Hegseth said the strike was carried out at the direction of President Donald Trump and described the vessel as being operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization.” He characterized those targeted as “narco-terrorists,” saying such attacks will continue until trafficking stops. The defence secretary provided no public evidence in his post to substantiate the group affiliation.
The latest attack is the most recent in a campaign of U.S. strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific that began in early September. U.S. officials and news outlets say the operations have included more than a dozen strikes and have killed more than 60 people so far. The strikes, the Pentagon says, target boats believed to be involved in narcotics smuggling along known trafficking routes.
The campaign has drawn growing scrutiny from lawmakers in Washington. Senate Democrats and other members of Congress have demanded more detailed briefings and legal justifications for the use of lethal force at sea — including requests for the legal opinions that underpin the administration’s claim that it is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and for a list of organizations the president has designated as targetable. Critics say the administration has so far provided inconsistent and selective information.
The U.S. military said no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation. Regional governments and international observers have yet to provide an independent, publicly available account of the incident; it was not immediately clear who the three killed were or whether any seized material (such as narcotics) was recovered. News organizations are continuing to seek comment from the Pentagon and from governments in the region.
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