Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X that U.S. forces hit a boat in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, leaving four people dead.
- Pentagon statements describe the targeted vessel as allegedly carrying drugs and say the operation took place in international waters.
- Hegseth framed the actions as targeting what he called drug terrorists who seek to bring narcotics to U.S. shores.
- The latest incident follows his announcement a day earlier of three Pacific strikes that he said killed 14 people, part of a weeks-long campaign in the Pacific and Caribbean.
- UN human-rights experts and a spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres voiced serious concern about the rising use of lethal force at sea and called for accountability.