Trump says U.S. strike on vessel near Venezuelan coast kills six

The U.S. military attacked a vessel "conducting narcotrafficking" in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday, killing six men on board, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Truth Social.

The latest operation increased the death toll to 27 in a series of U.S. military strikes targeting suspected drug trafficking vessels near Venezuela since September.

According to Trump, U.S. intelligence confirmed the vessel was traveling along a known route and linked to illegal narcoterrorist networks.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration notified Congress in a memo that the United States is in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels it has designated as terrorist organizations and will treat their members as "unlawful combatants."

The memo did not specify the names of the cartels or reveal the standards the U.S. government would apply to determine if someone is sufficiently linked to a cartel to justify targeting.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly accused the United States of using cartel threats as a pretext for regime change and expanding its military presence in Latin America.