A US military attack on a ship allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela left two survivors who have reportedly been captured by US forces and are being held aboard a Navy ship.
The attack, which took place on Thursday, is at least the sixth US strike on Venezuelan ships in recent weeks. It was the first time that survivors have been reported.
President Donald Trump confirmed the attack on Friday, calling the vessel a “drug-carrying submarine”.
Trump has ramped up threats against Venezuela’s leadership over claims that the country is sending drugs to the US. Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro has accused Trump of trying to make the South American nation “an American colony”.
The two survivors of the attack were rescued by a US military helicopter, and were then shuttled onto a US warship in the Caribbean, unnamed US officials have told US media.
The news of the survivors has not been officially confirmed by the US government.
When asked about the survivors on Friday, Trump defended the ongoing attacks, which have so far killed around 27 people.
“We attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” the president told reporters at the White House.
“This was not an innocent group of people. I don’t know too many people who have submarines, and that was an attack on a drug-carrying, loaded submarine.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that the US attacks are targeting “narco-terrorists”.
Both Trump and Rubio declined to address reports of survivors, but Rubio said that more information about the attack would be provided later on Friday.
Little is known about the groups that have been attacked, and the Trump administration has not provided additional details.
UN-appointed human rights experts have described the US strikes as “extrajudicial executions”.
On Thursday, the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago said it was investigating whether two of its citizens had been killed in a US attack. Trinidad and Tobago are located only a few miles off the coast of Venezuela.
Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada mourned the two killed, who were reportedly fishermen, and called for the UN Security Council to intervene.
“There is a killer prowling the Caribbean,” Moncada said during a UN speech. “People from different countries…are suffering the effects of these massacres.”
Maduro, whose legitimacy as Venezuela’s president is internationally contested, has appealed for peace with the US.
The increased US military presence in the region has raised fears in Caracas of a possible attack. There are reportedly about 10,000 US forces built up in the Caribbean, either on ships or in Puerto Rico, a US territory. US Air Force B-52 bombers also circled over the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday for several hours.
This week, Trump told reporters that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, and that he was considering launching attacks on Venezuelan soil.
On Friday, he used an expletive to warn Venezuela against undermining US interests.
Narco-subs have been a growing trend in recent years. They have become a popular way to transport drugs as they can go largely undetected, and can be sunk after delivery. They are often homemade, constructed using fibreglass and plywood.
Subs have been found carrying as much as three tonnes of cocaine, with destinations including the US and Europe.
The US, as well as other coastal nations, have previously intercepted some of these subs.
