Baghdad: The US Department of Defense announced that US forces carried out a strike on a boat suspected of drug smuggling off the coast of Venezuela on Friday, killing four people. This comes as part of what Washington described as an "armed conflict" against drug gangs.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated: "Four terrorist drug smugglers were killed on board the targeted boat," explaining that the operation took place in international waters while the vessel was attempting to smuggle large quantities of drugs towards the United States.