Creator( )euro news
Release date
The U.S. military said it has struck again at suspected drug boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, ending a nearly three-week hiatus as lawmakers ramp up oversight of the Pentagon’s lethal operations against suspected drug traffickers.
U.S. Southern Command said in a statement on X that four people were killed in the latest operation under Operation Southern Spear, which targets maritime drug trafficking.
“The Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic attack on a vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in international waters,” the command said in a statement.
It added that intelligence showed the boat was transporting illegal drugs along known trafficking routes.
The attack came amid bipartisan criticism of the Sept. 2 attack, in which the U.S. military launched additional strikes and an initial attack on another suspected drug vessel that killed a survivor.
Lawmakers from both parties have questioned the legality and oversight of the campaign, and several Democrats have called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Since the operation began, 23 suspected drug ships have been targeted and at least 87 people have been killed, according to statistics released by the Trump administration.
Congress has not authorized the use of military force specifically for these maritime attacks, and attempts to limit the president’s powers have been blocked by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Admiral denies issuing illegal orders
A parliamentary inquiry into the September 2 incident is currently underway. On Thursday, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who oversees elements of the operation, briefed lawmakers in a closed-door secret meeting.
He denied issuing, receiving or relaying the “extermination” and “no quartering” orders attributed to Hegseth in media reports.
“Mr. Bradley has made it very clear that he received no such orders,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
But lawmakers emerging from the press conference gave different accounts of what the two survivors were doing when they were killed, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the incident. Some members have suggested that the operation could raise issues under the laws of armed conflict.
Political reactions are divided
Many Republicans aligned with former President Donald Trump have defended the administration’s approach, arguing that aggressive interdiction is needed to disrupt transnational criminal networks.
Democrats, meanwhile, have called for more transparency, citing the lack of clear congressional approval and the number of civilian deaths.
The campaign has mainly focused on waters near Venezuela, fueling diplomatic tensions with Caracas.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused the U.S. government of using counternarcotics operations as a cover to destabilize his government, an allegation that U.S. officials deny.
Meanwhile, Washington has designated the Sunshine Cartel, a loose network of Venezuelan military commanders and other key figures accused of organized drug trafficking, as a foreign terrorist organization.
The United States has also accused Maduro, who was indicted on U.S. drug-terrorism charges in 2020, of leading the group, which he has repeatedly denied.
video editor • Jerry Fisayo-Bambi
Additional sources of information • AP