Six dead in US strike on drug smuggling boat off Venezuelan coast, Trump says

Six suspected drug smugglers were killed in the “lethal kinetic strike", the US President announced.

Mr Trump said the boat was wading through international waters on an established smuggling route carrying drugs, adding that it was associated with "illicit narcoterrorist networks".

A video posted to Truth Social shows the vessel in flames following the apparent attack.

It marks the fifth strike since the beginning of September after the Pentagon said the president declared the US was in an "armed conflict" with cartels.

This is the same legal rationale the US previously used to target terrorist organisations including  al-Qaeda and ISIS.

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Mr Trump said after the first strike the boat belonged to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua - which the US designated a terror group in February.

The US President  said that the group is "responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere."

But the Venezuelan government claims the group was dismantled in 2023.

Meanwhile, the US forces have been seen amassing in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets gathering in Puerto Rico.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro - who the US claims has links to drugs gangs and other criminal networks - argues the Americans are trying to force him out. 

The US is offering a $50m (£37m) reward for information that may lead to his arrest. Last month, the US military carried out strikes on three boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing 17 people.

The attacks were met with outrage by the international community, particularly in Central and South America.

Democrat lawmakers have complained that the strikes are unlawful under the War Powers Act which requires consent for military action.

But the Trump administration appears to be pursuing a new legal framework that questions the role of Congress in authorising action.

Some members of Congress are reportedly growing concerned over the Trump administration’s lack of transparency.

Both Republicans and Democrats have reportedly questioned the legality of the strikes and have requested unedited videos of the military attacks but the administration has so far refused to provide them, according to NBC.