WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military carried out three strikes Monday in the waters of the Eastern Pacific against boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 and leaving one survivor. The announcement made on social media Tuesday, marks a continued escalation in the pace of the strikes, which began in early September spaced weeks apart.

US forces have killed 14 people in strikes on four alleged drug boats in the Pacific, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says.

US forces in recent weeks carried out at least eight strikes against boats in the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, killing about 40 people