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The United States military carried out its 22nd attack on suspected drug vessels under President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday (December 4), its first since War Secretary Pete Hegseth was accused of ordering the killings of survivors of a previous boat bombing.
The latest casualties included individuals the U.S. Southern Command described as "four male narco-terrorists" traveling on a vessel operated by a "Designated Terrorist Organization" in international waters of the Pacific Ocean.
"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. 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," a post shared by the U.S. Southern Command, which includes 'unclassifed' footage, on its X account states.
Thursday's strike was the first in more than two weeks and increased the death toll in attacks on suspected drug vessels to 86 since September. The strike also coincided with House and Senate lawmakers questioning Adm. Frank Bradley, who directed strikes against a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean Sea on September 2 after the Washington Post reported that Hegseth ordered no survivors be left in the initial mission.
Bradley told lawmakers that he gave the final order for both the initial missile hit and several additional strikes resulting in 11 deaths following directive by Hegseth to destroy the vessel and its cargo. Several Democratic lawmakers have accused Hegseth and Bradley of committing a potential war crime by having the survivors killed.
Hegseth has publicly claimed that he stopped monitoring the video feed after the initial strike and didn't notice any survivors nor give orders for them to be killed.