US authorised second deadly Venezuela boat strike, White House says

The White House has confirmed that a senior US Navy commander has ordered a second round of strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.

The “double” strike on September 2 has drawn bipartisan scrutiny among US lawmakers. The Washington Post recently reported Two people survived the first explosion and were still clinging to the burning ship when they were killed, raising new legal questions.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the strikes but did not issue an order to “kill everyone,” as the report said.

Leavitt said that “Admiral (Frank) Bradley acted well within his authority and the law” when he ordered the additional strike.

More than 80 people have been killed in a number of similar attacks in the Caribbean Sea since early September. Each announcement from US officials is usually accompanied by a grainy video, but there is no evidence of the alleged drug trafficking, and few details about who or what was on board each ship.

The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defense by destroying boats carrying illegal drugs to the United States.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the report of the September 2 incident and pledged a congressional review of the strikes.

“President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made clear that groups designated by the President as drug-related terrorists are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war,” Leavitt said during Monday’s press conference.

The press secretary did not confirm that the first strike left two survivors, nor that the second attack was aimed at killing them.

Media reports that Hegseth ordered the killing of all on board during the September 2 raid have renewed concerns about the legality of US military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Hegseth responded to the accusations in the report, calling them “false, inflammatory and insulting.” He said in a tweet on Monday that Admiral Bradley “is an American hero, a true professional, and has my support 100%.”

“I stand by him and the combat decisions he made — on the Sept. 2 mission and every other mission since.”

In recent weeks, the United States has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean, as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics operation.

Trump warned Thursday that US efforts to stop Venezuelan drug trafficking “overland” will begin “very soon.”

Over the weekend, the Senate Armed Services Committee said it would “conduct vigorous oversight to determine the facts” related to the September 2 strikes.

The committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Roger Wicker, said on Monday that lawmakers planned to interview “the admiral who was in charge of the operation.” He added that she was also seeking audio and video “to find out what the orders were.”

The House Armed Services Committee also said it would lead a “bipartisan action to compile a full report on the operation in question.”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body that includes senior US military officers, met with the House and Senate Armed Services Committees over the weekend.

The group said the discussions focused on operations in the region and “the purpose and legitimacy of missions aimed at disrupting illicit trafficking networks.”

Several experts who spoke to the BBC raised serious doubts that a second strike on the alleged survivors could be considered legal under international law. The survivors may have been subject to the protection afforded to shipwrecked sailors, or to that afforded to troops who had become unable to continue fighting.

The Trump administration has said its operations in the Caribbean are a non-international armed conflict with alleged drug traffickers.

The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts – as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions – prohibit the targeting of wounded participants, saying that such participants should instead be arrested and cared for.

Under former President Barack Obama, the US military came under scrutiny for firing multiple shots from drones, in an exercise Known as “double tap”Which sometimes led to civilian casualties.

On Sunday, Venezuela’s National Assembly condemned the boat attacks and pledged to conduct a “rigorous and comprehensive investigation” into the September 2 attacks.

The Venezuelan government accused the United States of stoking tensions in the region with the aim of overthrowing the government.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tariq William Saab said Trump’s allegations stem from “huge envy” of the country’s natural resources.

He also called for a direct dialogue between the US and Venezuelan governments to “clear the toxic atmosphere that we have witnessed since July of last year.”

Trump confirmed on Sunday that he had a short phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during which he pressured him to resign and leave Venezuela with his family.

According to reports, during the call last month, Trump told Maduro that he could go to a destination of his choice, but only if he agreed to leave immediately. After he refused, Trump posted on social media that the airspace over Venezuela should be considered “completely closed.”

Maduro asked for a pardon for his top aides, and to be allowed to continue controlling the army after he abandoned the government. Trump declined both requests, according to the Miami Post and Reuters, and the BBC has not confirmed this.

US officials have claimed that Maduro himself is part of a “terrorist” organization called the Sun Cartel, which they say includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro denied the allegations.

With additional reporting by Lucy Gilder and Thomas Copeland