The lethal strikes in international waters targeted vessels operated by terrorist groups, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.
The United States killed 14 narco-terrorists in four boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Oct. 27, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The three lethal kinetic strikes in international waters targeted vessels operated by terrorist groups, Hegseth said. He did not name the entities.
The first strike took out eight people, the second eliminated four, and the third killed three, according to Hegseth, who said there was one survivor who was being sought by Mexican search-and-rescue crews. All were said to be males.
Hegseth issued a message for those trafficking drugs by sea.
“The Department has spent over TWO DECADES defending other homelands. Now, we’re defending our own,” he said in an Oct. 28 post on X.
“These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them.”
A video posted by Hegseth shows the first strike on two stopped boats, which become infernos. In the second strike, a boat speeding away erupts into fire. The video concludes with another boat loaded with numerous packages being fired upon and going up in flames.
In Congress, Democrats and some Republicans have expressed concerns about the recent U.S. strikes.
“I am deeply concerned about the president’s military actions in the Caribbean, which were taken without congressional authorization, without clear legal justification, and without any evidence presented that it was necessary to protect the United States or its forces from an imminent threat,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said during a Sept. 9 floor speech.
House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has called for a hearing on the strikes.
“I call on Speaker [Mike] Johnson [R-La.] to immediately bring the House back into session to not only work to end the Republican shutdown, but to also enable the committees to conduct critical oversight,” Smith said in an Oct. 20 statement.
