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Three men were killed in a US strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on ships that the Trump administration says are being used to smuggle drugs into the US.
Since they began in September, experts have questioned the legality of the strikes under international law, which drew strong criticism from Latin American leaders whose nationals were targeted.
Tackling the flow of illegal drugs is a key policy for US President Donald Trump – but some suggest the strikes are part of an effort to influence political opposition governments in the region.
Hegseth said the boat attacked on Saturday was operated by a specific terrorist organization – without specifying which – and was traveling in international waters when it was struck.
The ship was traveling on a known drug smuggling route and was carrying drugs, he said, without providing evidence.
Reports of these strikes are usually accompanied by grainy footage, but no evidence of the alleged drug trafficking and little detail about who or what was aboard each vessel.
Hegseth’s statement late Saturday was accompanied by a video that appeared to show a foggy boat traveling through the water before exploding.
The Trump administration insists it is targeting “narco-terrorists”.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro earlier described the attacks as “murder” and said they were being used by the US to “dominate” Latin America.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of “fabricating a war.”
The two left-leaning leaders are increasingly at odds with the Trump administration.
After Petro’s comments, the US imposed sanctions on him and his inner circle, as well as de-certifying Colombia as an ally in the war on drugs. Trump has threatened military action against ground targets in Venezuela.
But that, he acknowledged, may require the consent of the US Congress.
However, some US lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have said that strikes on vessels also require congressional approval – something Trump has denied.
Others question whether the fatal strikes were even legal.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that such attacks were a violation of international human rights laws.
“More than 60 people have reportedly been killed in an ongoing series of attacks carried out by US armed forces … under circumstances that find no justification under international law,” he said.
“These attacks – and their growing human cost – are unacceptable.”
Experts in Latin American politics have suggested the strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific were part of a set of measures designed to affect change in Colombia and Venezuela.
The US is among many nations that view Maduro’s election last year as illegitimate, while Trump has criticized Petro’s anti-drug policies in his country, a traditional US ally.
Over the past few months, Washington has steadily built up a force of warships, fighter jets, marines, spy planes, bombers and drones in the Caribbean, which it presents as part of a crackdown on drug trafficking, but which military analysts say are far larger than necessary.
