ISTANBUL

The US carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in international waters in the Caribbean on Thursday at the direction of President Donald Trump, killing three men it described as "narco-terrorists.”

The strike targeted a vessel “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization” that was “trafficking narcotics” and no US personnel were harmed, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on the US social media company X’s platform.

"The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters," he said.

Hegseth added that similar “vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue” until such trafficking stops.

"To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you keep trafficking deadly drugs—we will kill you," he said..