US military kills 3 in second deadly strike against ‘narcoterrorists’ in international waters, Trump says
By Haley Britzky, CNN
(CNN) — The US military killed three people in another deadly strike on a vessel in international waters around South America allegedly “transporting illegal narcotics” from Venezuela, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.
“This morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the US,” Trump said.
“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests,” he added. “The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this Strike.”
Monday’s announcement comes just under two weeks after the US military killed 11 individuals in a strike allegedly tied to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. The Trump administration has provided little detail regarding the action. When pushed for answers days after the strike, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to provide any specifics and said the US had “the absolute and complete authority to conduct that.”
The second strike on Monday comes amid rising tensions with Venezuela, as the US has deployed military assets to the region, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, and 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said last week that Venezuela is “not betting on conflict” with the US, “nor do we want conflict.”
CNN reported last week that Defense Department officials did not present conclusive evidence that the targets of the first attack were members of Tren de Aragua, and that the briefers could not determine exactly where they were headed. A source also told CNN that the briefers said the boat turned around at one point, which raises more questions about whether it posed an immediate threat.
“There is no evidence – none – that this strike was conducted in self-defense,” Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week. “That matters, because under both domestic and international law, the US military simply does not have the authority to use lethal force against a civilian vessel unless acting in self-defense.”
Trump has said the boat was on its way to the US, and Hegseth has insinuated the same, saying if anyone is trafficking drugs and “heading for the United States … that will have lethal consequences.”
“We knew exactly who they were, exactly what they were doing, what they represented, and why they were going where they were going,” Hegseth told reporters on September 4 during a visit to Fort Benning, Georgia.
“How did you know?” a reporter asked.
“Why would I tell you that?” Hegseth responded.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both signaled that more activity could be coming; Rubio said during a trip to Mexico and Ecuador after the first strike that the US is “going to wage combat against drug cartels that are flooding American streets and killing Americans.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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