The U.S. has seized survivors after a strike Thursday on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean, the first since President Donald Trump began launching deadly attacks in the region this summer, a defense official and another person familiar with the matter said Friday.
It is believed to be at least the sixth strike since early September, and the first to result in survivors who were picked up by the U.S. military. It was not immediately clear what would be done with the individuals, who the person said were believed to be held aboard a U.S. military vessel.
They confirmed the strike on the condition of anonymity because it has not yet been publicly acknowledged by Trump’s administration.
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This strike on Thursday brings the death toll from the Trump administration’s military action against vessels in the region to at least 28.
Trump justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks. That includes the ability to capture and detain combatants and to use lethal force to take out their leadership.
The survivors of this strike now face an unclear future and legal landscape, including questions about whether they are now considered to be prisoners of war or defendants in a criminal case. The White House did not comment on the strike.
Reuters was first to report news of the strike late Thursday.