US kills 14 as it strikes three ‘drug boats’ in the Pacific in latest attack, Pete Hegseth says
Fourteen killed in US strikes as Trump’s war against cartels escalates
- The US conducted three more strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats Monday, killing at least 14 people and raising the total death toll in its war on drug cartels to more than 50.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was only one survivor after the US military struck four vessels in the Pacific Ocean.
- The administration has carried out at least 13 strikes on 14 vessels since early September, targeting known narco-trafficking routes.
- The US government declared an armed conflict with drug cartels, labelling them “unlawful combatants” and justifying the actions as defending the US homeland.
- Critics, including members of Congress, have questioned the legality of the strikes, describing them as illegal extrajudicial killings and demanding legal justification.