US says it killed four ‘terrorists’ in latest strike on alleged drug vessel

The White House claimed, without providing evidence, the vas was operated by a 'designated violent organisation'.

The White House has said United States forces person bombed different alleged cause smuggling vas successful the eastbound Pacific Ocean, sidesplitting 4 men, conscionable days aft confirming it killed 14 people successful 3 abstracted strikes connected vessels successful the area.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said successful a station connected X precocious connected Wednesday that the “Department of War”, the caller sanction for the recently rebranded Department of Defense, had “carried retired a lethal kinetic onslaught connected yet different narco-trafficking vessel”.

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Hegseth said “four antheral narco-terrorists” were killed aboard the vessel, which was “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization”. He did not supply an nonstop determination for the attack, but said it was conducted successful planetary waters successful the eastbound Pacific Ocean.

“This vessel, similar each the others, was known by our quality to beryllium progressive successful illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting on a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said, posting aerial footage of the strike.

None of the victims of Wednesday’s onslaught person been identified.

Earlier today, astatine the absorption of President Trump, the Department of War carried retired a lethal kinetic onslaught connected yet different narco-trafficking vas operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) successful the Eastern Pacific.

This vessel, similar each the others, was known by our… pic.twitter.com/mBOLA5RYQe

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 29, 2025

The onslaught occurred astatine a clip erstwhile US President Donald Trump was connected the past limb of a three-nation travel successful Asia. On Thursday, Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping successful South Korea, their archetypal acme since 2019. Trump besides visited Malaysia and Japan earlier South Korea.

Earlier this week, Hegseth said US forces carried retired 3 lethal strikes against boats accused of trafficking amerciable narcotics connected Monday. The attacks, which besides took spot successful the eastbound Pacific Ocean, reportedly killed 14 radical and near 1 survivor.

Following the strikes, Hegseth said that “the Department has spent implicit TWO DECADES defending different homelands. Now, we’re defending our own”.

Since September 2, the US subject has carried retired astatine slightest 14 strikes targeting immoderate 15 maritime vessels successful the Caribbean Sea and the eastbound Pacific Ocean.

At slightest 61 radical person present been confirmed killed by the two-month-long campaign, which has besides seen the US bolster its subject beingness successful the Caribbean to unusually precocious levels.

The White House has yet to supply immoderate grounds to the nationalist for immoderate of the strikes to substantiate its allegations of cause trafficking.

The Trump medication has framed the strikes arsenic a nationalist information measure, claiming the alleged cause traffickers are “unlawful combatants” successful a “non-international equipped conflict”.

Critics person called the unilateral strikes a signifier of extrajudicial sidesplitting and a usurpation of planetary law, which mostly prohibits countries from utilizing lethal subject unit against non-combatants extracurricular a struggle zone.

“We proceed to emphasise the request for each efforts to antagonistic transnational organised transgression to beryllium conducted successful accordance with planetary law,” Miroslav Jenca, the United Nations’ adjunct secretary-general for the Americas, told the UN Security Council this month.