American forces in the Caribbean struck a fourth boat in the sea this morning, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, killing four people on board.

“Earlier this morning, on President Trump’s orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Hegseth announced in a post on X.

The attack comes after the Trump administration said that the United States is in “a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations,” referring to drug cartels. A memo from the administration to Congress, obtained and first reported on by the Associated Press, referred to those killed as “unlawful combatants.”

The secretary said that the Friday morning strike happened

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