Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operations, ordered by President Trump, involved two ballistic‑missile strikes on vessels run by designated terrorist organizations in international waters.
- Hegseth asserted U.S. intelligence indicated the boats were carrying narcotics along a known smuggling route, and he reported no U.S. casualties.
- The new strikes bring reported totals to roughly 75–76 dead and about 20 vessels destroyed since September as the campaign expanded from the Caribbean into the eastern Pacific.
- U.N. human‑rights chief Volker Türk said there are strong indications the killings constitute extrajudicial executions and called for a prompt, transparent, independent probe.
- Members of Congress continue to demand evidence and legal justification after a Senate effort to limit Trump’s authority narrowly failed, while Venezuela condemned the strikes and the U.S. increased its naval presence, including deploying the Gerald R. Ford carrier.