US Military: Strikes on 3 Boats Kill 8 12/16 06:14

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. military said Monday that it attacked three 
boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total 
of eight people as scrutiny over the boat strikes is intensifying in Congress.

   The military said in a statement on social media that the strikes targeted 
"designated terrorist organizations," killing three people in the first vessel, 
two in the second boat and three in the third boat. It didn't provide evidence 
of their alleged drug trafficking but posted a video of a boat moving through 
water before exploding.

   President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation 
to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is 
engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels. But the Trump administration 
is facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign, 
which has killed at least 95 people in 25 known strikes since early September, 
including a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage 
of a boat after the first hit.

   The latest boat strikes come on the eve of briefings on Capitol Hill for all 
members of Congress as questions mount over the Trump administration's military 
campaign.

   Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top 
national security officials are expected to provide closed-door briefings for 
lawmakers in the House and Senate.

   The campaign has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro, 
who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the U.S. In a sharp escalation last 
week, U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration 
has accused of smuggling illicit crude. Maduro has insisted the real purpose of 
the U.S. military operations is to force him from office.

   The U.S. military has built up its largest presence in the region in decades 
and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the 
Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Trump says land attacks are coming 
soon but has not offered any details on location.