The U.S. military killed 11 people on Tuesday in a strike on a vessel from Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal narcotics, President Donald Trump said, in the first known operation since his administration’s recent deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean.
“We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“And there’s more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time … These came out of Venezuela.”
He later shared a video on his Truth Social platform that appeared to show footage from overhead drones of a speedboat at sea exploding and then on fire.
“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike,” Trump said.
He added that the U.S. military had identified the crew as members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. designated a terrorist group in February. He repeated allegations that Tren de Aragua is being controlled by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, accusations that Caracas denies.
Venezuela’s Communications Minister, Freddy Nanez, suggested in a post on social media that the video shared by Trump was created with artificial intelligence.
Reuters conducted initial checks on the video, including a review of its visual elements using a manipulation detection tool which did not show evidence of manipulation. However, thorough verification is an ongoing process, and Reuters will continue to review the footage as more information becomes available.
The Pentagon has not released specifics about the attack, including what kind of drugs were on board, the quantity, or how the strike was carried out.
The decision to blow up a suspected drug vessel passing through the Caribbean, instead of seizing the vessel and apprehending its crew, is highly unusual and evokes memories of the U.S. fight against militant groups like al Qaeda. (Reuters)
Good.