Donald Trump has said three people were killed in a US military strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel vessel.
The US president said the strike, on Monday morning, was carried out on his orders and that the vessel was in international waters at the time.
It marks the second such US strike on targets the Trump administration says are Venezuelan drug traffickers, with the first killing 11 people earlier this month.
Mr Trump provided no evidence that the boat was carrying drugs at the time, but said on Truth Social that the military operation “positively identified extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists”.
The president added: “These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests.”
He also posted a nearly 30-second-long video, which appeared to show a vessel in a body of water exploding and then on fire.
It comes as the US military continues to build up deployments in the region: Five F-35 aircraft were seen landing in Puerto Rico on Saturday, after the Trump administration ordered 10 of the stealth fighters to join the buildup.
That deployment joins at least seven US warships in the region, along with one nuclear-powered submarine.
Officials have said that the US military has also been flying P-8 spy planes over international waters in the region to gather intelligence.
Meanwhile, ahead of Mr Trump’s post, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the recent strikes were an “aggression” by the US, and the communications between the two countries had largely ended.
After the first strike from the US military on 2 September, Mr Trump said that the US military had identified the crew as members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated a terrorist group in February.
He then alleged that Tren de Aragua is being controlled by Mr Maduro, which the country denies.
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Trump said 11 people were killed in the first strike on 2 September. File pic: Truth Social
Venezuelan officials have repeatedly said that Tren de Aragua is no longer active in their country after they dismantled it during a prison raid in 2023.
Despite demands from US politicians to justify it, the US government has not publicly said what type of drugs the boat in the first strike was carrying or what type of weapons were used to carry out the strike.
US officials told the Reuters news agency that the vessel appeared to be turning around when it was struck.
Mr Maduro said earlier this month that he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if Venezuela were attacked by US forces deployed in the Caribbean.
