Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces hit a boat in international Caribbean waters on Thursday, killing three people on a vessel he described as operated by a designated terrorist organization.
- With the latest strike, U.S. figures put the death toll at at least 69 across 17 attacks and say 18 vessels have been destroyed since early September.
- Hegseth posted a short attack video and reiterated that intelligence indicated narcotics trafficking, but the government has not publicly provided independent proof of drugs on board or identified the victims.
- The Pentagon has expanded its regional posture, with the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group redeploying toward Latin America and B-52 bombers flying near Venezuela in recent weeks.
- The administration briefed congressional leaders on the campaign as the Senate rejected a measure to limit strikes against Venezuela, and the U.N. human-rights chief and NGOs condemned the operations as unlawful extrajudicial killings.