US strike in Caribbean targeted Colombians: Report

WASHINGTON

At least one US military strike in the Caribbean over the last two months targeted Colombian nationals aboard a boat that had departed from Colombia, according to a report.

CNN cited two people briefed by the Pentagon as saying that the US military carried out at least five strikes on five separate boats in the region, including one on Sept. 19 that hit a vessel suspected of carrying Colombians linked to groups the Trump administration deems "terrorist organizations." The administration recently designated several international drug cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.

The Pentagon was unable to determine the identities of those on board before the attack, the sources told CNN.

The report said the targeting of Colombians suggests the Trump administration’s campaign against suspected narcotics traffickers in the Caribbean is broader than previously known.

The administration has issued a classified legal opinion allowing lethal strikes against an expansive list of cartels and suspected traffickers, effectively classifying them as “enemy combatants,” the report added.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro last week demanded that Washington reveal the names and nationalities of those killed in recent US strikes, urging the US to end its bombing campaign.

His comments followed the White House’s dismissal of his earlier allegation that one strike hit a Colombian vessel, calling it “baseless and reprehensible.”

The latest US strike in the Caribbean, announced Tuesday by President Donald Trump, targeted a ship off the Venezuelan coast, killing six people.

WASHINGTON

At least one US military strike in the Caribbean over the last two months targeted Colombian nationals aboard a boat that had departed from Colombia, according to a report.

The Pentagon was unable to determine the identities of those on board before the attack, the sources told CNN.

The report said the targeting of Colombians suggests the Trump administration’s campaign against suspected narcotics traffickers in the Caribbean is broader than previously known.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro last week demanded that Washington reveal the names and nationalities of those killed in recent US strikes, urging the US to end its bombing campaign.

His comments followed the White House’s dismissal of his earlier allegation that one strike hit a Colombian vessel, calling it “baseless and reprehensible.”

The latest US strike in the Caribbean, announced Tuesday by President Donald Trump, targeted a ship off the Venezuelan coast, killing six people.