US kills 14 in strikes on four alleged drug boats in Pacific

US forces have killed 14 people in strikes on four alleged drug boats in the Pacific, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says.

He said one survivor was rescued by Mexican search and rescue personnel.

It is the latest in a series of attacks on boats the US says have been carrying drugs in both the Pacific and Caribbean.

The latest strikes in the eastern Pacific, which Hegseth said happened on Monday at the direction of President Donald Trump, mark an escalation in what it says is a campaign to target drug traffickers.

At least 51 people have now been killed in the strikes, which has led to escalation tensions between the US and the governments of both Colombia and Venezuela.

In a statement on X, Hegseth said the four vessels hit on Monday "were known by our intelligence apparatus, transitioning along known narco-trafficking routes and carrying narcotics".

Hegseth added that eight "narco-terrorists" were killed in the first strike. Four and three were killed in the following two strikes.

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