At least one US military strike in the Caribbean during the last two months targeted Colombian nationals on a boat that had left from Colombia, in response to two folks briefed by the Pentagon in regards to the strikes.
The US military has carried out at least five strikes to date on 5 separate boats in the Caribbean. The third publicly acknowledged strike on September 19 targeted a boat leaving Colombia, the sources stated.
The boat was suspected of carrying Colombians affiliated with Colombian terrorist organizations, the sources stated, however the Pentagon was unable to find out the person identities of every particular person on the boats earlier than they struck them.
The deliberate focusing on of Colombians, which has not been beforehand reported, means that the US military’s marketing campaign towards suspected narcotics trafficking teams in the Caribbean is wider than beforehand believed. The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies deadly strikes towards a secret and expansive record of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, NCS has reported.
The opinion is important, legal experts previously told NCS, as a result of it seems to justify giving the president energy to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed with out authorized evaluation. Historically, these concerned in drug trafficking have been thought-about criminals with due course of rights, with the Coast Guard interdicting drug-trafficking vessels and arresting smugglers.
NCS has reached out to Colombia’s overseas ministry for remark. Referring to the vessel that was struck on September 19, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated on the time on X: “If the boat was sunk in the Dominican Republic, then it is possible that they were Colombians. This means that officials from the US and the Dominican Republic would be guilty of the murder of Colombian citizens.”
Asked in regards to the strike, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly advised NCS that each strike taken by the US military has “been against designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores.”
“On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to take on the cartels – and he has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans,” Kelly stated. She added that “the President will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”
Petro additionally stated on X earlier this month that “indications show” the fourth US military strike additionally targeted Colombians. “The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.” The US had introduced days earlier that it had hit a fourth boat in the Caribbean.
The White House denied Petro’s claims in an announcement, saying that “the United States looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement.”
But sources advised NCS that whereas the fourth US military strike could not have targeted Colombians, at least the one earlier strike on September 19 did.