A top US Navy commander ordered a second round of military strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, the White House has confirmed.
“Admiral (Frank) Bradley acted well within his authority and within the law in ordering the additional strike,” White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Monday.
Leavitt confirmed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the attacks but that he did not give the order to “kill everybody”, as The Washington Post reported. The second attack was reportedly carried out after two people survived the initial explosion and were clinging to the burning vessel.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern over the report and vowed a congressional review of the attacks.
“President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that narco-terrorist groups designated by the President are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war,” Leavitt said during a Monday press briefing.
The press secretary neither confirmed that two people survived the first attack, nor that the second attack was intended to kill them.
Media reports that Hegseth had given instructions to kill everyone on board the ship during the September 2 strike have reignited concerns about the legality of US military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Hegseth denied the allegations in the report, calling them “fabricated, inflammatory and defamatory”. On Monday, he tweeted that Admiral Bradley “is an American hero, a true professional, and he has my 100% support.
“I stand with him and the combat decisions he made – on the September 2 mission and all other decisions thereafter.”
The US has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean in recent weeks and carried out several deadly strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia in what it calls an anti-narcotics operation.
More than 80 people have been killed in attacks since the beginning of September.
The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defense by destroying boats carrying illegal drugs into the US.
Tension with Venezuela has also increased significantly due to these attacks. Trump has repeatedly said that he is considering the deployment of US ground forces in the country.
This has also increased scrutiny among American lawmakers.
Over the weekend, the Senate Armed Services Committee said it would “conduct close monitoring to determine the facts” related to the attacks.
Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the committee, said Monday that lawmakers planned to interview “the admiral in charge of the operation.” He said he was also asking for audio and video “to see what the orders were.”
The Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives also said it would “lead bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the associated operation”.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body of the highest-ranking US military officials, met with the armed services committees of both the House and Senate over the weekend.
Discussions focused on operations in the region and “the intent and legitimacy of the mission to disrupt illicit trafficking networks,” the group said.
Several experts who spoke to the BBC expressed serious doubt that a second attack on alleged survivors could be considered legal under international law. Survivors may be subject to the protection afforded to shipwrecked sailors, or to soldiers who have become unable to continue fighting.
The Trump administration has said that its operation in the Caribbean is a non-international armed conflict with alleged drug traffickers.
The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts – as set out in the Geneva Conventions – prohibit targeting wounded participants, saying instead that those participants should be captured and cared for.
Under former President Barack Obama, the US military came under scrutiny for firing multiple rounds from drones, known as a “double tap”, which sometimes resulted in civilian casualties.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s National Assembly condemned the boat attacks and vowed to conduct a “rigorous and thorough investigation” into the September 2 attacks.
The Venezuelan government has accused the US of stoking tensions in the region with the aim of toppling the government.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Trump’s allegations stemmed from “great jealousy” for the country’s natural resources.
He also called for direct negotiations between the US and Venezuelan governments, “to clean up the toxic environment we have seen since July last year”.
On Sunday, Trump confirmed that he had had a brief phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in which he pressured him to resign and leave Venezuela with his family.
During a call last month, Trump reportedly told Maduro he could go to a destination of his choice, but only if he agreed to depart immediately. Following his denial, Trump posted on social media that Venezuelan airspace should be considered “completely closed”.
Maduro requested amnesty for his top aides and asked that they be allowed to continue control of the military after leaving the government. Trump rejected both demands, according to The Miami Post and Reuters, something the BBC has not confirmed.
US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of a “terrorist” organization called the Cartel of the Sons, which they say includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.
With additional reporting by Lucy Gilder and Thomas Copeland
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