UN criticizes US ship attack
The United Nations is taking action against the US military after it launched deadly boat attacks in an attempt to target drug-trafficking vessels.
On December 4, the US military announced another attack on a suspected drug carrier in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four crew members.
U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a statement about the X: “Intelligence officials have confirmed that the vessel was transporting illegal narcotics and traveling along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.”
U.S. Southern Command announced that Joint Task Force Southern Spear, at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, conducted a “lethal kinetic attack on a vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in international waters.” Four men on board the ship were killed.
The military also shared a 21-second video showing the vessel being hit.
Joint Task Force Southern Spear is part of Operation Southern Spear, a military force of more than a dozen naval vessels led by the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford. Military operations are underway in Caribbean waters, targeting drug smugglers and threatening direct conflict with Venezuela.
Hegseth previously said Operation Southern Spear “will rid the hemisphere of narco-terrorists and protect our homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.”
The Dec. 4 airstrike came amid mounting criticism of the Trump administration’s attacks on suspected drug vessels, including additional attacks on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean, killing two survivors clinging to wreckage. At least 83 people have been killed in at least 21 strikes since September.
Hegseth supported the second attack, but said he did not personally order it. He told the cabinet that he learned about the attack after it happened, but defended the admiral, saying he had authorized it.
Contributors: Francesca Chambers, George Petras, Janet Loehrke, Ramon Padilla, Karina Zaiets, USA TODAY
