US strikes three ships in eastern Pacific, killing at least 8

A US Air Force Boeing C-5 Galaxy is parked at an airport.

The US has targeted three ships in the eastern Pacific. The US military claims that eight people were killed in the attacks. The attacks came after the US military increased its presence in the Caribbean region near Venezuela, especially in Trinidad and Tobago.

In a post on social media on Monday (December 15), the US Military Southern Command (Southcom) said that at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, three ships in international waters were targeted by lethal kinetic attacks. A total of eight people were killed in these attacks.

A Southcom statement said that three people were killed on the first ship, two on the second and three on the third ship. However, the statement did not provide any evidence to support this, although it claimed that the victims were involved in drug trafficking.

Earlier, since September, at least 90 people were killed in similar US attacks on dozens of ships in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela. International law experts have criticized these incidents as extrajudicial killings carried out by the US military.

Members of the US Congress have also raised questions about these attacks, in particular, there have been demands for an investigation into the role of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. However, the US administration claims that these measures are aimed at suppressing drug trafficking in the region. And for this reason, the Pentagon has recently deployed warships, a submarine, drones and fighter jets to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

On the other hand, Venezuela says that the purpose of these attacks and the increase in US military power is to pave the way for external forces to plunder Venezuela's vast oil and gas resources and to overthrow the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

A few days ago, the US administration seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. In response to the incident, US President Donald Trump told reporters, "I assume we'll keep the oil."

Source: Al Jazeera