Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation in international waters was conducted at President Donald Trump's direction against a vessel tied to a Designated Terrorist Organization.
- Officials said the boat was known by U.S. intelligence to be carrying narcotics along a trafficking route, and reported no U.S. casualties.
- The attack is at least the 15th strike since early September across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with more than 60 people reported killed.
- U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk urged the United States to halt the strikes, calling the killings unacceptable under international law.
- Members of Congress renewed demands for the administration’s legal rationale and public evidence as the U.S. reinforces the region with assets including the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group.