Hegseth Announces 7th US Bombing of Boat in the Caribbean

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Sunday that the US military bombed another boat in the Caribbean and killed three “terrorists,” marking the seventh known US strike on a vessel in the region since the bombing campaign began on September 2.

As usual, Hegseth claimed the vessel was carrying drugs but provided no evidence to back up the claim. He also claimed the boat was affiliated with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), or the National Liberation Army, a Marxist-Leninist insurgent group that operates on the Colombia-Venezuela border and has a presence in both countries. The US has listed ELN as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” since 1997.

“There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike—which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no US forces were harmed in this strike,” Hegseth wrote on X. “These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people.”