Archiv: death toll from US airstrikes in the Caribbean and Pacific


03.12.2025 - 09:49 [ CNN ]

Trump and Hegseth insist they didn’t know of follow-up strike that killed survivors on suspected drug boat

But Hegseth on Tuesday also denied any direct role in targeting the survivors, saying he’d empowered Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley to make all of the operational decisions — and had left the room well before it became clear that some of the people on the boat had survived.

“I watched that first strike live,” Hegseth said. “I didn’t stick around for the hour and two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs, so I moved on to my next meeting.”

The defense secretary did not learn about the second strike, he added, until hours later.

02.12.2025 - 20:27 [ Time Magazine ]

What to Know About the Admiral Named by Hegseth as Boat Strike Comes Under Scrutiny

During the Sept. 2 strikes, Bradley was leading the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which oversees elite military teams, handles complex and sensitive military missions, and at times works with the CIA. In October, he assumed command of the JSOC’s parent group, the United States Special Operations Command, which oversees the military’s special operations in more than 80 countries.

02.12.2025 - 19:59 [ Brit Hume, Chief Political Analyst, Fox News Channel / X ]

How to point the finger at someone while pretending to support him.

(…)

02.12.2025 - 19:57 [ Yahoo ]

Hegseth Throws Admiral Under the Bus, Says Navy Leader Ordered Boat Survivors Killed

Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume quote-tweeted Hegseth and wrote, “How to point the finger at someone while pretending to support him.”

Earlier in the day, Hume said on Fox News that the story could be “a big problem” for the Trump administration.

Over on CNN, Ryan Goodman, former general counsel for the Department of Defense, stated that if Hegseth ordered everyone on the boat killed, the secretary is ultimately responsible for the second strike, regardless of Bradley’s involvement.

02.12.2025 - 19:50 [ Politico.com ]

White House says admiral approved second deadly boat strike

Hegseth “authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” Leavitt said. “The president has made it quite clear that if narco-terrorists again are trafficking illegal drugs towards the United States, he has the authority to kill them. That is what this administration is doing.”

02.12.2025 - 19:16 [ Time Magazine ]

Boat Strike Revelations Draw Bipartisan Outrage, Spurring Push for Hearings as Soon as ‘Next Week’

Lawmakers from both parties were raising the term “war crime” on Monday, as pressure mounts on the Trump Administration to release military video evidence and explain the legal basis for its escalating campaign in the Caribbean.

In the Senate, the calls for oversight were coalescing around Senator Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has already directed an inquiry to the Pentagon and pledged “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.” Several Senate Democrats told TIME on Monday that they have confidence in Wicker leading the investigation into the strike, but urged him to move quickly.

02.12.2025 - 19:09 [ Time Magazine ]

White House Confirms Second Strike on Alleged Drug Boat and Defends Move as Legal

(December 1, 2025)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command acted “within his authority and the law” when striking an alleged drug boat a second time on Sept. 2 after the first strike left survivors.

The White House has scrambled in recent days to respond to reporting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered an elite military unit to kill everyone on board an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in early September, leading the commander to send a second strike that killed survivors from the first attack.

30.11.2025 - 08:13 [ theHill.com ]

House committee seeks ‘full accounting’ of boat strike after WaPo ‘kill everybody’ report

The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said late Saturday they are seeking “full accounting” of an early September U.S. military attack against an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean after a report alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. troops to “kill everybody” aboard the vessel.

“This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) military operations in the Caribbean,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chair of the House committee, and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the panel, said in a joint statement.

29.11.2025 - 17:46 [ theHill.com ]

Senators vow oversight after report Hegseth told troops to ‘kill everybody’ in boat strike

Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) issued a statement Saturday vowing to conduct “vigorous oversight” on Caribbean strikes after a report surfaced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. military to “kill everybody” aboard an alleged drug vessel.

29.11.2025 - 17:38 [ Washington Post ]

Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all

(November 28, 2025)

As two men clung to a stricken, burning ship targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations commander followed the defense secretary’s order to leave no survivors.

29.11.2025 - 16:51 [ USA Today ]

Venezuelan boat strikes lack legal justification, Democrats say

There is no U.S. law that explicitly authorizes the U.S. Navy to attack or sink ships at sea outside of a congressionally authorized war or valid self-defense situation, legal experts and Democratic lawmakers say.

The strikes began in September, but Trump administration discussions about them began soon after Trump moved back into the White House in January

29.11.2025 - 16:41 [ USA Today ]

Trump says land strikes in Venezuela will ‚start very soon‘

Amid a buildup of U.S. military forces near Venezuela and strikes on alleged drug boats, President Donald Trump told U.S. troops on Thanksgiving that the military operation will soon include strikes on land.

“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers,“ Trump said during a call with military service members that alluded to the boat strikes, adding: „We’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.“

12.11.2025 - 00:04 [ EuropeanNewsroom.com ]

Latin America-EU Summit: States reject the ‘use of force’ amid tensions with the United States

“We reiterate our opposition to the use or threat of the use of force and to any action that is not in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter,” states the text signed on Sunday by 58 of the 60 nations present, with Venezuela and Nicaragua abstaining.

“We addressed the importance of maritime security and regional stability in the Caribbean,” adds the document, without directly mentioning the American bombings against ships suspected by Washington of transporting drugs, which have already resulted in 70 deaths.

07.11.2025 - 23:30 [ CNC3.co.tt ]

US strikes another boat in Caribbean Sea, killing 3

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced another deadly U.S. strike on a boat he said was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.

The attack Thursday killed three people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 69 people in at least 17 strikes

02.11.2025 - 21:37 [ TrinidadExpress.com ]

15th US strike kills 3 more

The operation carried out on Saturday brings the total number of strikes carried out by the US in the Caribbean and Pacific to 15 and the total number of deaths 65.

02.11.2025 - 21:35 [ Al Jazeera ]

US military kills three in another strike on Caribbean vessel

The operation, which began in early September, has killed more than 62 people, including nationals from Venezuela and Colombia, and destroyed 14 boats and a semi-submersible.

The Trump administration has said the attacks are targeting alleged drug smuggling, but has yet to present any evidence to the public to substantiate its claims.

Critics have called the strikes a form of extrajudicial killing and a violation of international law, which largely prohibits countries from using lethal military force against noncombatants outside a conflict zone.

28.10.2025 - 20:50 [ UtimasNoticias.com.ve ]

US kills 14 in new attack on Pacific vessels

Fourteen people were killed and one survived, as a result of another attack by the U.S. War Department against three vessels sailing in the waters of the Eastern Pacific.

The information was confirmed by the Secretary of the US Department of War, Pete Hegseth, who detailed in his X account that “three lethal kinetic attacks were carried out against four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (…) A total of 14 narcoterrorists died during the three attacks.”

28.10.2025 - 19:35 [ theHill.com ]

Graham says lawmakers to be briefed on potential Venezuela land attack

(October 26, 2025)

“There will be a congressional briefing about a potential expanding from the sea to the land. I support that idea, but I think [Trump] has all the authority he needs,” Graham added.

Starting in early September, the president authorized a series of strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing at least 43 people.

25.10.2025 - 00:30 [ CNC3.co,tt ]

Another US strike in Caribbean targets alleged drug-running boat, killing 6, Hegseth says

In a 20-second black and white video of the strike that was posted to social media, a small boat can be seen apparently sitting motionless on the water when a long thin projectile descends on it resulting in an explosion. The video ends before the explosion dies down enough for the remains of the boat to become visible again.

In his post, Hegseth said that the strike was conducted in international waters and boasted that it was the first one conducted at night.