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The U.S. military carried out another strike on a suspected drug vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization, killing four narco-terrorists and marking the 22nd strike under Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The strike on Thursday against a boat allegedly carrying drugs is the first strike in more than two weeks and brings the total killed to 86.
“On Dec. 4, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization,” U.S. Southern Command said. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed.”
U.S. Southern Command shared video of the strike on social media, showing the strike on the alleged drug-carrying vessel.
US CARRIES OUT 8TH STRIKE ON ALLEGED DRUG VESSEL, THIS TIME IN EASTERN PACIFIC, HEGSETH SAYS
The latest strike comes as lawmakers question another U.S. attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, a Sept. 2 operation now under scrutiny for how commanders handled the survivors.
Adm. Mitch Bradley confirmed to lawmakers Thursday that Hegseth did not order all survivors of counter-narcotics strikes be killed, pushing back on a Washington Post report that claimed he directed commanders to “kill them all.”
Rep. Jim Himes said Bradley confirmed “there had not been a kill them all order” and no instruction to grant no quarter, a point echoed by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton.
SPEC OPS CHIEF ORDERED DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE ‘IN SELF-DEFENSE’ WITH HEGSETH’S SIGN-OFF, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
Lawmakers who viewed the full video disagreed sharply over what it showed. Himes described the survivors as “shipwrecked sailors,” while Cotton said the footage showed them “trying to flip their boat back over and continue their mission.”
Sen. Chris Coons said it would be “hard to watch the series of videos and not be troubled by it,” while Rep. Rick Crawford criticized Democrats who said they were troubled, arguing they were ignoring the realities of targeting designated terrorists.
Other recent strikes have resulted in different outcomes. In an Oct. 16 operation that killed two, two survivors were captured and sent back to Colombia and Mexico.
During a series of Oct. 27 strikes that killed 14, one survivor was left for retrieval by the Mexican coast guard. Cotton said the protocol for handling survivors has remained consistent since early September.
SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO HALT MILITARY ACTION, DRUG BOAT STRIKES IN THE CARIBBEAN
Legal analysts raised concerns after learning the Sept. 2 survivors were killed in a follow-up strike, noting the Pentagon’s Law of War manual prohibits attacking persons rendered “helpless” by wounds, sickness or shipwreck unless they resume hostile action.
Pentagon officials have suggested the survivors may have been able to call for backup, a factor Bradley viewed as a threat.
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Hegseth has said he watched the initial strike in real time but did not view the second and had no involvement in authorizing it. He has maintained he stands by Bradley’s decision.
Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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