Members of Congress demand that the US Secretary of Defense respond to accusations that he ordered the killing of survivors of the attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea.

“President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made clear that the drug-related terrorist groups designated by the President are subject to lethal attacks under the laws of war,” Leavitt added.

Trump himself said on Sunday that he believed Hegseth “100 percent.”

The United States has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean in recent weeks and has carried out a series of deadly attacks against ships allegedly used by drug traffickers in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia, as part of what it calls an anti-drug operation.

More than 80 people have died since the beginning of September.

The Trump administration claims it is acting in legitimate defense by destroying ships transporting illicit drugs into the United States.

The information washington post, Which has not been verified by the BBC, stated that Hegseth “gave a verbal directive” to “kill everyone” on board one of these ships, and that the Special Operations Commander supervising the operation “ordered a second attack in compliance with Hegseth’s instructions.”

The Trump administration insists it is in a non-international armed conflict with alleged drug traffickers to justify its operations in the region.

The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts – as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions – prohibit attacking wounded participants, who must be detained and treated.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers appearing on US talk shows on Sunday said Congress should review the attacks on the ships.

They said they did not know if what he posted was true The Washington Post This was true, but targeting survivors of the initial missile attack raised serious questions about its legitimacy.

“This amounts to a war crime if true,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said on a CBS program.

Republican lawmaker Mike Turner admitted that Congress had no information about this second attack.

“Obviously if that happened, it would be a very serious matter, and I agree it would be an illegal act,” Turner, the former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told CBS.

These comments come after the Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee announced on Friday that it plans to conduct “vigorous oversight” of the attacks.

“The committee is aware of recent press reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding additional alleged attacks on suspected drug vessels in the Southern Command area of ​​responsibility,” the committee’s chairman, Republican Senator Roger Wicker, and his Democratic counterpart, Senator Jack Reed, said in a statement.

They stated, “The committee has directed inquiries to the administration and we will conduct strict oversight to determine the facts surrounding these circumstances.”

The House Armed Services Committee said it would take “bipartisan action to obtain a full report on the operation in question.”

In a post on social media site He wrote that the series of attacks on ships were “legal under US and international law.”

“Every drug dealer we kill belongs to a designated terrorist organization,” he wrote.

When asked by reporters aboard Air Force One, President Trump defended his Secretary of Defense: “He said he didn’t say that. And I believe him 100 percent.”

Trump said his administration would “look into” the matter, adding: “I did not want that, not a second attack.”

In his comments on Sunday, Trump confirmed that he had recently spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but did not want to go into many details: “I can’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call.”

Venezuela’s National Assembly on Sunday condemned the attacks on the boats and promised a “rigorous and thorough investigation” into the second attack that allegedly led to the deaths of two survivors of the previous attack.

For weeks, the United States has been launching attacks on ships that it says are used by criminal groups transporting drugs to the United States without providing evidence.

It has built up in the Caribbean, near Venezuela, the largest military deployment in the region in decades.

Washington considers Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro an illegitimate ruler and attributes him to being one of the leaders of the so-called Sun Cartel, an alleged criminal group dedicated to sending illegal drugs on a large scale to the United States.

The military actions in recent weeks are being interpreted as a strategy to increase pressure on the Venezuelan president and cause his departure from power.

The Venezuelan government accuses Washington of stoking tensions in the region with the aim of overthrowing the government.

The United States is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, US Army legal advisers said the US must “act consistently with its provisions.”

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