WASHINGTON — The U.S. army mentioned Wednesday that it had carried out strikes towards 5 extra vessels it mentioned had been engaged in drug trafficking, killing eight individuals in all.
U.S. Southern Command mentioned in an announcement Wednesday evening that two vessels had been struck earlier within the day, killing three individuals in a single boat and two within the different. It referred to as them “narco-terrorists.”
The assertion didn’t say the place the strikes happened.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessels had been transiting alongside recognized narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking,” U.S. Southern Command mentioned in a put up on social media, which included a video.
Earlier Wednesday, it mentioned the U.S. army carried out strikes towards three suspected drug boats Tuesday, killing three individuals.
“On Dec. 30, on the path of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Job Drive Southern Spear carried out kinetic strikes towards three narco-trafficking vessels touring as a convoy,” U.S. Southern Command mentioned on X, alleging that narcotics had been transferred between the vessels earlier than the strikes.
“Three narco-terrorists aboard the primary vessel had been killed within the first engagement,” Southern Command mentioned within the earlier assertion. “The remaining narco-terrorists deserted the opposite two vessels, leaping overboard and distancing themselves earlier than follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels.”
The precise location of these strikes was additionally not specified, nor was it clear from the assertion how many individuals had been aboard the 2 different vessels earlier than they had been struck. The assertion added that the U.S. Coast Guard was notified after the strikes to activate its search-and-rescue operations.
NBC Information has reached out to the Pentagon for extra particulars.
The U.S. has carried out strikes on a minimum of 35 alleged drug boats since September, killing greater than 100 individuals. The vast majority of the strikes have occurred within the Caribbean and the jap Pacific.
President Donald Trump in current months has ramped up U.S. army presence within the area, in addition to his rhetoric towards nations like Venezuela and Colombia.
Up to now week, Trump mentioned, the U.S. “knocked out” a facility tied to Venezuela.
“We simply knocked out — I don’t know should you learn otherwise you noticed — they’ve a giant plant or huge facility the place they ship the, , the place the ships come from,” Trump instructed WABC radio of New York Metropolis in an interview Friday.
Trump has argued that the strikes on vessels are serving to stop the trafficking of narcotics into the U.S. and that the Venezuelan authorities is utilizing oil income to finance “drug terrorism.”
In a Dec. 18 telephone interview with NBC Information, Trump declined to rule out a battle with Venezuela. Earlier within the month, he ordered a blockade of “sanctioned oil tankers” to and from the nation.
On Wednesday, the Treasury Division sanctioned 4 corporations over operations in Venezuela’s oil sector.
