US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills four / Photo: © POOL/AFP
US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills four
The US military said Wednesday it had killed four suspected drug traffickers in a new strike in the Pacific Ocean, as part of a controversial campaign that has left close to 100 dead since September.
The Trump administration has provided no evidence that these boats are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.
The US Southern Command said on social media that the military "conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization" in the eastern Pacific which was engaged in "narco-trafficking operations."
The latest strike brings the death toll of the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean campaign up to 99 since September, according to an AFP tally on data from authorities.
"A total of four male narco-terrorists were killed, and no US military forces were harmed," it added.
The announcement comes after the Republican-led Senate on Wednesday passed a sweeping defense policy bill, expected to be signed by US President Donald Trump, that demands more information on the strikes be provided to Congress.
It particularly threatens to cut Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget by 25 percent unless unedited videos of the first attack in the campaign, which occurred on September 2, be given to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.
During the September strike, survivors of an initial attack on a boat were killed after the US launched a second strike on the vessel, a controversial move that has generated accusations of a possible war crime.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the strike before Congress on Tuesday, portraying it as a "highly successful mission."
Rubio and Hegseth promised to authorize the two committees to view the video of the September 2 strike by the end of the week, in the presence of the commander who gave the order, Admiral Frank Bradley.
Trump has also overseen a major military deployment off the coast of Venezuela, and this week declared a blockade of "sanctioned oil vessels" to and from Caracas.
The moves add growing pressure to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who claims the US campaign seeks regime change instead of its stated goal of stopping drug trafficking.
Usage of the military for the deadly anti-drug trafficking campaign and potential strikes in Venezuela has raised debate over whether Trump should seek authorization from Congress.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday meanwhile rejected two Democratic resolutions aimed at halting the strikes and "hostilities in or against Venezuela" without its authorization.
(P.Vasilyevsky--DTZ)
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