Former U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that the U.S. military conducted a strike against a vessel off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in six fatalities.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the vessel as belonging to “narcoterrorists” engaged in “trafficking narcotics.”
This marks the fifth such strike carried out by the Trump administration against boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking on international waters since September. A total of 27 deaths have been reported across these incidents. However, the U.S. has not publicly provided specific evidence or details regarding the identities of the vessels or their occupants.
Legal experts have raised concerns that these actions may violate international law, while neighboring countries such as Colombia and Venezuela have issued condemnations of the strikes.
Trump’s Truth Social post asserted that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known” smuggling route.
The post included an aerial surveillance video purportedly showing a small boat being struck by a missile, resulting in an explosion.
Trump did not disclose the nationalities of those on board or the specific drug smuggling organization they were suspected of belonging to. He did state that no U.S. military personnel were injured in the operation.
The strike follows a recent leak of a memo to Congress, reported by U.S. media outlets, indicating that the administration had determined the U.S. was in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.
The U.S. government has defended its strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels as acts of self-defense, although the legality of these actions remains a subject of debate among legal professionals.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
A new Department of Defense policy bars journalists from the Pentagon unless they agree to only publish information that has been officially authorised.
The right-wing conspiracy theorist has not yet paid any of the more than $1b in damages he owes Sandy Hook families.
Cody Balmer pleaded guilty to arson and attempted murder for starting the fire in April while Shapiro and his family were inside. They escaped safely.
They include officers from the FBI, US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Onboard Air Force One, the BBC’s Tom Bateman pressed President Donald Trump on whether his negotiated ceasefire would stay intact.