"WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. military has carried out three strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean against boats accused of carrying drugs, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor. This was the first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day. Carried out Monday, the strikes mark a continued escalation in the pace of the attacks in South American waters, which began in early September and had been spaced weeks apart."
"Following one attack on a boat, the military spotted a person in the water clinging to some wreckage. The military passed the survivor's precise location to the U.S. Coast Guard and a Mexican military aircraft that was operating in the area. Hegseth said Mexican search and rescue authorities "assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue" of the sole survivor but didn't say if that person was successfully rescued or would stay in Mexico's custody or be handed over to the U.S."
"Hegseth posted footage of the latest strikes to social media in which two boats can be seen moving through the water in separate clips. One is visibly laden with a large amount of parcels or bundles. Both then suddenly explode and are seen in flames. The third strike appears to have been conducted on a pair of boats that were stationary in the water alongside each other."
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. military carried out three strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean against boats accused of carrying drugs, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor. The strikes occurred off the coast of Colombia and marked an escalation after earlier attacks began in early September. A Pentagon official said one person was seen clinging to wreckage and the military passed the survivor's location to the U.S. Coast Guard and a Mexican military aircraft. Mexican search-and-rescue authorities assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue. Social media video showed boats laden with bundles exploding; other boats appeared largely empty before detonation.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]