President Donald Trump has ordered the bombing of another supposed drug-smuggling boat from Venezuela, but the strike is reported to have left survivors.
A U.S. official told Reuters that some people aboard the vessel survived the latest attack, but said it was unclear whether the strike was intended to spare anyone. CBS News and NBC News separately confirmed the incident, citing U.S. officials
It’s at least the sixth such vessel targeted by Trump since early September. The president has ordered attacks on suspected narcotics boats as part of a campaign against “narco-terrorists” that has killed at least 27 people so far, not including the latest reported attack.
Trump also escalated tensions with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in announcing Wednesday that he had ordered the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
Despite a mounting international outcry over the legality of the boat attacks, Trump has defended the operations, saying the targeted vessels were linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, which is smuggling drugs into the United States.
Trump administration officials argue that lethal strikes are necessary because past efforts have failed to stop U.S.-bound drug shipments. The president has provided no evidence of who or what has been on board the vessels.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
Trump launched his first attack on Sept. 2, an operation that killed 11 people who he claimed were from Tren de Aragua.
The president this week posted a video that showed a boat being blown up in international waters.
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking, in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela,” the president posted on Truth Social.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route.
“The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!”
At the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned Trump’s actions and called for a criminal probe.
“Trump fires missiles at unarmed migrant boats and accuses them of being drug traffickers and terrorists, when they did not have a single weapon to defend themselves,” Petro said.
“There must be criminal charges opened against those officials of the United States, including the senior official who gave the order: President Trump, who allowed missiles to be fired against young people who simply wanted to escape poverty.”
It remains unclear whether the alleged survivors of Thursday’s strike were receiving medical care, or whether they were being held in custody.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon mysteriously lost a senior military commander who has been overseeing Trump’s crackdown on “narco-terrorists.”
Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of U.S. Southern Command, announced in a statement Thursday that he will be leaving his post in December, two years before his term is due to end. A source claimed to Reuters that Holsey and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had clashed over U.S. operations in the Caribbean.
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