The US defence secretary said he did not see there were survivors in the water in the Caribbean Sea when the second strike was ordered.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth cited the “fog of war” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in early September.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Mr Hegseth said he did not see there were survivors in the water when the second strike was ordered and launched, saying the vessel “exploded in fire, smoke, you can’t see anything… This is called the fog of war”.

Mr Hegseth also said he “didn’t stick around” for the remainder of the September 2 mission following the initial strike, and that the admiral in charge had “made the right call” in ordering the second hit, which he “had complete a

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