US carries out another strike on narco-trafficking vessel in Caribbean: Pentagon chief

"Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Caribbean," Hegseth wrote on US social media platform X.

He noted that the vessel was known by US intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling.

"Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed, and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike," he added.

Washington has carried out more than a dozen strikes, mostly in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing at least 64 people since September.

Rights groups and legal experts have questioned the legality of the operations, arguing that the US strikes on alleged drug boats violate international law.

The UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the attacks “unacceptable” and urged an independent investigation into what his office described as extrajudicial killings.