11 'narcoterrorists' killed in US strike on drug smuggling vessel
President Donald Trump has claimed that the US has killed 11 narcoterrorists in a strike on a drug smuggling vessel as it sailed in international waters.
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Mr Trump took to social media to share a video showing a missile strike on the vessel allegedly carrying members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TDA).
He said that the group is a designated foreign terrorist organisation that is "responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere."
"Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.
"The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States."
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"The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike," Mr Trump added.
"Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is "working to keep Americans safe by strengthening cooperation on illegal immigration and countering transnational crime and terrorism in our region."
The administration has recently been critical of Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro, offering a $50 million (£37 million) reward for information leading to his arrest on drug trafficking charges.
Maduro said yesterday that he would respond to any military action by the US with an armed fight.
Venezuela's communications minister, Freddy Ñáñez, responded to the publication of the video with the suggestion that the video was created using artificial intelligence.
Mr Ñáñez put the video into an AI chatbot and asked it to analyse the video. He wrote on social media: "It seems that Marco Rubio keeps lying to his president: after putting him in a dead end, now he gives him as 'proof' a video with AI (thus proven)."