US Navy warship holding survivors of attack on Caribbean ship, sources say
Oct 17 (Reuters) – The US military holds two survivors aboard a ship Navy after rescuing them from a suspected drug trafficking ship in the Caribbean hit by a US attack that killed two other people, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The previously unreported revelation raises the possibility that the survivors of Thursday’s attack may be the first prisoners of war in a conflict declared by President Donald Trump against a “narcoterrorist” threat he says emanates from Venezuela.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AP Photo/Omar Havana
One of the sources said the ship that crashed Thursday was moving underwater and was possibly a semi-submersible, a submarine-like vessel used by drug traffickers to avoid detection.
Before Thursday’s operation, US military strikes on suspected drug trafficking ships off Venezuela had left no known survivors and videos presented by the Trump administration showed ships being destroyed.
The Trump administration has said the previous strikes killed 27 people, raising alarm among some legal experts and Democratic lawmakers who question whether they respect the laws of war.
The attacks come against the backdrop of a US military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and around 6,500 troops, as Trump escalates his confrontation with the Venezuelan government.
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On Wednesday, Trump revealed that he had authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, adding to speculation in Caracas that the United States is trying to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Alistair Bell)