{"id":5564,"date":"2025-12-16T06:15:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T06:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=5564"},"modified":"2025-12-16T06:15:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T06:15:47","slug":"us-military-kills-8-in-latest-attacks-on-vessels-in-eastern-pacific-donald-trump-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=5564","title":{"rendered":"US military kills 8 in latest attacks on vessels in eastern Pacific | Donald Trump News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Three latest attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean come as the US increases military presence in Trinidad and Tobago, near Venezuela.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 16 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">16 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The United States has said it killed eight people in new attacks on vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, days after the US military seized a Venezuelan oil tanker amid Washington\u2019s continuing military buildup in Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on social media, the US Military Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said that \u201clethal kinetic strikes\u201d targeted three vessels in international waters on Monday, at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Eight people were killed in total, SOUTHCOM said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third,\u201d it said, while claiming without providing any evidence that those killed were linked to drug trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>At least 90 people have been killed in similar US attacks on dozens of vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela since September, in what international law experts have criticised as extrajudicial killings by the US military.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On Dec. 15, at the direction of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SecWar<\/a> Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IQfCVvUpau\">pic.twitter.com\/IQfCVvUpau<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Southcom\/status\/2000756230252314901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>US lawmakers have questioned Hegseth over his role in the attacks, including whether he personally ordered a second strike on a boat targeting two people who had survived a first attack and were left clinging to the debris in September.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon has also deployed warships, a submarine, drones and fighter jets to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, in what it claims are efforts to tackle drug smuggling in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela said the attacks and US military buildup were aimed at allowing \u201cexternal powers to rob Venezuela\u2019s immeasurable oil and gas wealth\u201c, even before US forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, with US President Donald Trump telling reporters, \u201cI assume we\u2019re going to keep the oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"us-military-to-use-trinidad-airports-on-venezuela-s-doorstep\">US military to use Trinidad airports, on Venezuela\u2019s doorstep<\/h2>\n<p>The latest attacks on vessels in Latin American waters come as the US continues to build up its considerable military presence in the region surrounding Venezuela, with Trinidad and Tobago saying on Monday that it had authorised US military aircraft to use its airports.<\/p>\n<p>Trinidad and Tobago said it had given the green light for the US military to use its airports \u201cin the coming weeks\u201d, adding that Washington would use them for \u201clogistical\u201d operations, including \u201cfacilitating supply replenishment and routine personnel rotations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Caribbean island nation, which is located only 12km (7.4 miles) from Venezuela at its closest point, has been supportive of the US military buildup in the region, in contrast to some other Central and South American leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has said she would rather see drug traffickers \u201cblown to pieces\u201d than have them kill citizens of her nation.<\/p>\n<p>In response, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro again said that his country would stop supplying gas to Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, according to the Venezuelan state television channel Telesur.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4167080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/INTERACTIVE-US-seizes-oil-tanker-off-Venezuela-coast-map-1765444506.png?quality=80\" alt=\"INTERACTIVE US seizes oil tanker off Venezuela coast map-1765444506\" data-interactive=\"true\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three latest attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean come as the US increases military presence in Trinidad and Tobago, near Venezuela. Published On 16 Dec 202516 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States has said it killed eight people in new attacks on vessels in the eastern Pacific [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}