Senior US national security officials said on Wednesday that military operations against cartels would continue, setting the stage for a sustained military campaign in Latin America even as basic questions about a deadly strike against a vessel from Venezuela remained unanswered.

The US military killed 11 people on Tuesday in a strike on a vessel from Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal narcotics, in the first known operation since President Donald Trump’s recent deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean.

Little is known about the strike, including what legal justification was used or what drugs were on board, but US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said operations would continue.

“We’ve got assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships, because this is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t stop with just this strike,” Hegseth said on FOX & Friends.

“Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco terrorist will face the same fate,” Hegseth said.

He declined to provide details on how the operation was carried out, saying they were classified. It is unknown whether the vessel was destroyed using a drone, torpedo, or by some other means.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Mexico City, said similar strikes will happen again.

“Maybe it’s happening right now, I don’t know, but the point is the president of the United States is going to wage war on narco terrorist organisations,” Rubio said.

Trump said on Tuesday, without providing evidence, that the US military had identified the crew of the vessel as members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Washington designated a terrorist group in February.

On Wednesday, he told reporters in the Oval Office that “massive amounts of drugs” were found on the boat.

“We have tapes of them speaking,” said Trump. “It was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people. And everybody fully understands that. In fact, you see it, you see the bags of drugs all over the boat,” Trump said.

The Pentagon has not released specifics about the crew nor why it chose to kill those on board.

Presidents of both major US parties have in the past asserted the authority to use the military for limited strikes when there is a threat to the United States, as Trump did in June when he ordered an attack on Iran.

Rubio said that “a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl” was an immediate threat to the United States, adding that Trump had the right to “eliminate (it) under exigent circumstances.”

Mary Ellen O’Connell, an expert on international law and the use of force at the University of Notre Dame, said Tuesday’s operation “violated fundamental principles of international law.”

“The alleged fact that the attack was on the high seas is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the US had no right to intentionally kill these suspects,” she said.

Maduro “should be worried”

The decision to blow up a suspected drug vessel passing through the Caribbean, instead of seizing the vessel and apprehending its crew, is highly unusual and evokes memories of the US fight against militant groups such as al Qaeda.

The United States has deployed warships in the southern Caribbean in recent weeks, to follow through on a pledge by Trump to crack down on drug cartels.

Seven US warships and one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are either in the region or expected to be there soon, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines. US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.

Asked about Venezuela’s close relationship with China, Hegseth aimed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“The only person that should be worried is Nicolas Maduro, who is … effectively a kingpin of a drug narco state,” Hegseth said.

The Trump administration last month doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups.

Venezuelan officials have said the Caribbean buildup is meant to justify an intervention against them, with Maduro accusing Trump of seeking “regime change.”

In an interview with Fox Noticias on Wednesday, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado supported the US strike, saying the operation was “aimed at saving lives” in Venezuela and the United States.

“We have to be grateful that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and his administration recognise and act toward Maduro as what he is: the head of a narco-terrorist regime that has been responsible for destroying our country, destabilising the region, and becoming a real threat to the security of the United States,” Machado said. She was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election but is the country’s most popular opposition figure.

Authorities in the South American country, who say Tren de Aragua is no longer active there after being dismantled during a prison raid in 2023, suggested on Tuesday that footage shared by Trump of a speedboat at sea exploding and then burning was created with artificial intelligence.

Reuters conducted initial checks on the video, including a review of its visual elements using a manipulation detection tool that did not show evidence of manipulation. However, thorough verification is an ongoing process, and Reuters will continue to review the footage as more information becomes available.

The strike drew scepticism from some within the Venezuelan opposition.

“How did they know there were 11 people? Did they count them? How did they know they were Venezuelan? Were their ID cards floating on the sea afterwards?” former opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said to Reuters.

• Vessel with 100+ aboard struck submerged tree stump.
• Incident occurred near Gausawa in Borgu district.
• Dozens rescued, 10 in serious condition.

At least 60 people have died and dozens were rescued after a boat carrying over 100 passengers capsized in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State, local officials said on Wednesday.

The vessel departed from Tungan Sule in Malale district on Tuesday morning, heading to Dugga for a condolence visit, when it struck a submerged tree stump near Gausawa community in Borgu Local Government Area.

Abdullahi Baba Ara, chair of Borgu Local Government Area, said the casualty figure was rising.

“The death toll of the boat incident has risen to 60,” Baba Ara told Reuters. “Ten people have been found in serious condition, and many are still being sought.”

The incident occurred around 11am (1000 GMT).

Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, the district head of Shagumi, told Reuters he was at the scene shortly after the accident.

“I was at the scene yesterday, around 12pm until 4pm. The boat carried more than 100 people,” Muhammad said. “We were able to recover 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also recovered and removed.”

He added that four victims were buried on Tuesday in accordance with Islamic rites, and that women and children made up the majority of the deceased.

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency said emergency personnel and local divers were searching for the victims. It confirmed 29 deaths so far with 50 rescues, and two missing persons. The agency said the boat was overloaded and collided with a tree stump, causing it to capsize.

Boat accidents are frequent in Nigeria, especially during the rainy season, due to lax safety enforcement, overcrowding, and the use of poorly maintained vessels.

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promised his country’s full backing for Russia’s war effort, calling it a “fraternal duty”, the country’s state media KCNA reported on Thursday.

The North Korean leader made the pledge during talks with President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, where both leaders attended a grand military parade alongside China’s Xi Jinping.

Kim and Putin held a meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of China’s celebrations to mark the formal surrender of Japan in World War Two in Beijing.

The pair joined Chinese President Xi Jinping at a massive military parade, marking the first such gathering of the three countries’ leaders since the early days of the Cold War.

Kim’s Beijing trip gave him his first chance to meet Putin and Xi together, as well as mingle with more than two dozen other national leaders who attended the events.

State media photos showed Kim standing or walking with Putin and Xi side by side, smiling.

“Comrade Kim Jong Un and President Putin exchanged candid opinions on important international and regional issues,” KCNA said.

Putin “highly praised” North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine and said relations between the two countries were “special ones of trust, friendship and alliance”, according to KCNA.

North Korea has sent soldiers, artillery ammunition and missiles to Russia to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine.

South Korea’s intelligence agency estimated this week that some 2,000 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia have been killed.

It believes North Korea plans to send another 6,000 troops, with about 1,000 combat soldiers already in Russia.

Kim and Putin discussed in detail their long-term partnership plans and reaffirmed their “steadfast will” to strengthen bilateral relations, KCNA said.

Last year, the two leaders signed a mutual defence treaty, which calls for each side to assist the other in the event of an armed attack.