US conducts 4th strike on 'drug boat' off Venezuela, kills 4 'narco-terrorists'; Maduro, Colombian prez react

In yet another action against Venezuela, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US conducted a lethal and kinetic strike on a vessel allegedly carrying illegal drugs just off the coast of Venezuela and killed four. This marks fourth such attack in recent weeks, with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro slamming the US for attempting a ‘regime change’ via these strikes. Hegseth also shared a 40-second video of the kinetic strike.

Issuing a statement, Hegseth said that Friday's strike was carried out in international waters and that all of the people killed were men. He said the vessel was transporting "substantial amounts of narcotics - headed to America to poison our people." He reaffirmed that these strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over. Hegseth in his post said that the intelligence "without a doubt" confirmed that the people on board were "narco-terrorists" and the boat was carrying drugs. He did not provide any evidence for his claims. Trump, also without providing evidence, said the boat had enough drugs to kill 25,000 to 50,000 people. In the video shared by Hegseth, a vessel can be seen moving through the water before a web of projectiles fall on the boat and the surrounding water, causing the boat to explode on impact.

‘Armed aggression to impose regime change’: Nicolas Maduro

Soon after the attack, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro slammed the US and said that it is attempting "an armed aggression to impose regime change, to impose puppet governments, and to steal Venezuela's oil, gas, gold and all natural resources."

Speaking at an event in Caracas, Maduro ordered the mobilisation of reservists and militias "if it is necessary to move from unarmed combat to armed combat."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro also reacted and wrote on X that "the narcoterrorists don't go in the boats -- the narcos live in the US, Europe and Dubai." He called the US action a violation of the legal principle of proportionality and labelled it as murder. "There were poor Caribbean youths on that boat," Petro claimed.