US defense secretary says without providing evidence that dead from strikes in eastern Pacific were ‘narco-terrorists’
US defense secretary says without providing evidence that dead from strikes in eastern Pacific were ‘narco-terrorists’
US forces struck two more alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of South America, killing six people, the Trump administration’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said.
The US began carrying out such strikes – which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers – in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. More than 70 people have been killed in the strikes so far.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” Hegseth said.
