News - Middle East: The US military forces stationed in the Caribbean have conducted yet another strike on a ship, leaving at least three men dead.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X on Saturday (local time), US Secretary of War Peter Brian Hegseth announced that the US Southern Command has carried out a deadly strike on what he claimed was a drug-smuggling vessel.

“This vessel, like EVERY OTHER, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth declared, without offering any evidence to substantiate the claim.

He added that the operation, “carried out in international waters,” had been launched under the direct order of US President Donald Trump.

The Southern Command has conducted at least fifteen such assaults in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September, killing at least 61 individuals in total.

The frequency of these attacks has risen sharply in recent days, escalating from one strike every few weeks to two assaults on passing vessels within the past three days.

The US military escalation in the Caribbean and near Venezuelan waters began in August, involving 6,000 personnel, several destroyers, anti-submarine aircraft, battleships, nuclear submarines, and F-35 squadrons.

On October 24, the Pentagon announced the deployment of Carrier Strike Group Twelve (CSG-12) to the Southern Command in the Caribbean, claiming it aimed solely to “detect, monitor, and interdict illicit activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States.”

The arrival of CSG-12, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, will increase the number of US military personnel in the region to roughly 10,000.

On October 15, Trump stated that he had authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and was weighing the possibility of ground operations in the country.

“We have almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we will stop it by land,” Trump said, referring to what he called drug trafficking.

This growing military presence has intensified concerns about an imminent attempt by Washington to destabilize or even invade Venezuela under fabricated pretexts.

In response, the Venezuelan government has declared a national emergency, strengthened its armed forces, and mobilized the national militia to confront Washington’s “unprovoked military aggression.”

On October 24, President Nicolás Maduro, in a national broadcast, stated that the Trump administration is manufacturing “a new eternal war.”

“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” Maduro said.

“They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal, and totally fake one,” he continued, adding, “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves.”

In addition to accusing Maduro of drug trafficking without evidence, Trump has made similar unsubstantiated claims against Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.

The US has also suspended USAID funding to Colombia on the pretext that the country serves as a major hub for narcotics entering the United States.

Officials in the Trump administration, notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have repeatedly indicated that Washington might expand its military operations in the Caribbean to include Colombia as well.

In a post published on X on Friday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his government was considering submitting a proposal to the United Nations to end US airstrikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean.

Highlighting the “illegal” nature of these operations, Petro questioned how Caribbean nations and their citizens perceive such aggression.

“Colombia must submit a proposal to the United Nations calling for an end to the aggression against the Caribbean,” he wrote.

Press TV