The US has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela, US President Donald Trump claimed.
Trump, who made the announcement on Tuesday, offered scant details on the operation.
But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that the vessel was being operated by a "designated narco-terrorist organisation."
Later, Trump announced the strike killed 11 “narcoterrorists.”
"Earlier this morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists," Trump said, without specifying the weapon used.
"The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action."
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shared footage of the vessel before it was struck.
The press office of Venezuela's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the announcement.
The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned in recent days that his country would "constitutionally declare a republic in arms" if attacked by US forces deployed to the Caribbean.
His comments came as Washington is gearing to expand its maritime presence in the region to combat drug cartels.
While the US has not signalled any planned land incursion, thousands of personnel are being deployed, prompting Caracas to mobilise troops along its coast and border with Colombia and to call for civilian enlistment.
The US Navy currently has two Aegis guided-missile destroyers — the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham — in the Caribbean, along with the destroyer USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie elsewhere in Latin America.
The deployment follows President Trump’s push to use the military against cartels he blames for smuggling fentanyl and other drugs into US communities.
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Source: TRT