WASHINGTON (TNND) — Five more alleged narco-terrorists were killed in ongoing U.S. strikes on vessels in international waters, according to U.S. Southern Command.
The latest strike was carried out on Thursday.
“At the direction of [Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” U.S. Southern Command wrote on X.”Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” according to the post. “A total of five male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions – three in the first vessel and two in the second vessel. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
Hegseth, along with other members of the Trump administration, have faced criticism in wake of the deadly boat strikes.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, among other elected officials, have demanded that Hegseth release unedited video of a “double-tap” strike that killed two survivors of an alleged drug boat strike in the Caribbean in September.
Earlier this week, Hegseth said the Pentagon will not be publicly releasing the footage.
“Of course we’re not going to release a top secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,” Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday after a closed-door briefing with lawmakers in the House and Senate.
The boat strikes started in December. So far, at least 104 suspected narco-terrorists were killed in the attacks.