WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he ordered another strike on a small boat he accused of carrying drugs off Venezuela. It expands what the Trump administration has declared is an “armed conflict” with cartels. In a social media post Friday, Hegseth asserted that the “vessel was trafficking narcotics” and those aboard were “narco-terrorists.” He said the strike killed four men but offered no details on who they were or what group they belonged to. This follows the U.S. designating several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. It’s the fourth deadly strike in the Caribbean and the latest since revelations that President Donald Trump said he was treating drug traffickers as unlawful combatants and military force was required to combat them.
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