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US strikes on 3 ‘narco-terrorist’ boats kill 14 in 1 day in Eastern Pacific: Hegseth
At least 57 people have been killed in the 13 disclosed strikes on alleged drug-running boats since early September
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Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military carried out three strikes on Monday in the waters of the Eastern Pacific against boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 and leaving one survivor.
The announcement, made on social media on Tuesday, marks a continued escalation in the pace of the strikes, which began in early September spaced weeks apart.
This was the first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day.
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Hegseth said Mexican search and rescue authorities “assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor but did not say if that person would stay in their custody or be handed over to the US.
In a strike earlier this month which had two survivors, the US military rescued the pair and later repatriated them to Colombia and Ecuador.
Hegseth posted footage of the strikes to social media in which two boats can be seen moving at speed through the water.
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