WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military conducted its eighth military operation. Attack on alleged drug containerstwo people were killed, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.
Tuesday night’s strike occurred in the eastern Pacific. The previous seven attacks hit all targeted ships in the Caribbean Sea. Two people were killed in the strikes, bringing the overall death toll from the strikes to at least 34, Hegseth said in a social media post.
In a short video released by Hegseth, a small boat, half loaded with brown cargo, can be seen moving on the water. A few seconds into the video, the boat explodes and can be seen floating motionless on the water amidst flames.
In his post, Hegseth took the unusual step of identifying suspected drug traffickers as the group behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“Just as al-Qaeda waged war against our homeland, these cartels wage war against our borders and people,” Hegseth said, adding: “There is no refuge or forgiveness, only justice.”
President Donald Trump justified the attack by claiming that the United States was involved. “armed conflict” It has stepped up cooperation with drug cartels and is relying on the same legal powers that President George W. Bush’s administration used when it declared a war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But the Trump administration also evaded prosecution of any of the residents After repatriating two survivors of the earlier attacks to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia, they investigated the alleged drug-trafficking vessel.
Ecuadorian officials later said: They said they released the man who was sent back to his home country, saying there was no evidence he had committed any crimes in his country.
