The United States has deployed Navy ships to the Caribbean and sent F-35 stealth warplanes to Puerto Rico, part of a massive military force that Washington insists is aimed at curbing drug trafficking.
More than 15 US strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific have killed at least 65 people in recent weeks, prompting criticism from governments in the region.
The latest strike hit "another narco-trafficking vessel... in the Caribbean," Hegseth wrote on social media.
"This vessel -- like EVERY OTHER -- was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling," he said.
"Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed."
-- 'No justification' --
Experts say the attacks, which began in early September, amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers, and Washington has yet to make public any evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.
Hegseth said Washington would continue to "hunt... and kill" alleged drug traffickers.
He shared video footage of the strike, showing the moment the vessel is hit, followed by a fireball.
Like previous videos released by the US government, areas on the boat are obfuscated, rendering it impossible to verify how many people were on board.
The United Nations urged on Friday Washington to halt its strikes.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said these people had been killed "in circumstances that find no justification in international law."
"These attacks -- and their mounting human cost -- are unacceptable," he said in a statement.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro -- who faces indictment on drug charges in the United States -- accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for "imposing regime change" in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil.
But US President Donald Trump has said he was not considering strikes against Venezuela, dialing back previous posturing.
Maduro insists there is no drug cultivation in Venezuela, which he says is used as a trafficking route for Colombian cocaine against its will.
The Trump administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the strikes.
Trump threatens military action in Nigeria over killing of Christians
West Palm Beach, United States (AFP) Nov 2, 2025 -
US President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to send the military into Nigeria with "guns-a-blazing" if Africa's most populous country does not stem what he described as the killing of Christians by Islamists.
In an explosive post, the Republican leader -- who had campaigned unsuccessfully for the Nobel Peace Prize -- said on social media he asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack, one day after warning that Christianity was "facing an existential threat in Nigeria."
Nigeria is embroiled in numerous conflicts that experts say have killed both Christians and Muslims without distinction.
"If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, 'guns-a-blazing,' to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," Trump said.
"I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians," he added, warning the Nigerian government that they "BETTER MOVE FAST!"
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, shared Trump's post and wrote on social media: "Yes sir."
"The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," Hegseth said.
Trump posted on Friday, without evidence, that "thousands of Christians are being killed (and) Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter."
Conservative politicians have fueled the accusations.
In March, US congressman Chris Smith called for Nigeria to be listed by the State Department as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) -- a move announced by Trump on Friday over what he called an "existential threat" to the African nation's Christian population.
And in early October, US Senator Ted Cruz and House Republican Riley Moore accused the Nigerian government of turning a blind eye to the "mass murder" of Christians.
- 'Tolerance' -
Claims of Christian persecution have also been pushed by some in Nigeria, where ethnic, religious and regional divisions have flared with deadly consequences in the past and still shape the country's modern politics.
Some US officials argue Christians in Nigeria are facing a "genocide" -- a claim that Abuja denies.
"The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality," Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said on social media Saturday after Trump made his CPC announcement.
"Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so," Tinubu added.
Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south.
The country is consumed by security issues. Its northeastern region is at the epicenter of a Boko Haram jihadist insurgency, which has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced more than two million since 2009, according to the United Nations.
In central Nigeria, majority-Muslim herders have repeatedly clashed with majority-Christian farmers. The conflict is frequently portrayed as inter-religious but generally stems from competition over land access.
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