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US forces have struck a second ship suspected of transporting drugs in the Pacific Ocean, amid a growing US campaign against drug smuggling at sea.
Three people were killed and no U.S. forces were injured in Wednesday's attack, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. It comes a day after the U.S. struck another ship in the Pacific, killing two people.
Both ships are believed to have been transporting drugs along known trafficking routes in international waters, Hegseth added.
The attacks are the eighth and ninth against suspected drug ships since September 2, but the first in Pacific waters. Most U.S. attacks have been in the Caribbean Sea.
"Today, at the order of President Trump, the Department of War conducted another lethal kinetic attack on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization," Hegseth posted on X.
He continues, "these attacks will continue, day after day. These are not just drug traffickers, these are narco-terrorists who bring death and destruction to our cities."
The post was accompanied by a video that appears to show a boat catching fire after being hit by an American bomb.
Objects are then seen floating in the water, before appearing to be the target of a second airstrike.
US President Donald Trump said he has the legal authority to continue bombing ships in international waters, but said he could turn to the US Congress if he decides to expand the targets to land.
"We are allowed to do this, and if we do it from the ground up, we can go back to Congress," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
He said his administration was "fully prepared" to expand counter-drug operations on the ground, which would mark a significant escalation.
At least 37 people have been killed in US attacks on suspected drug ships, including a recent attack on a semi-submarine in the Caribbean.
Two men survived an attack last week and were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
News of the attack comes at a time when tensions are rising between the Trump administration and the Colombian government of President Gustavo Petro, whom Trump has characterized as "a thug and a bad guy."
"He better watch it or we will take very serious action against him and his country," Trump said. "He has led his country into a death trap."
On Sunday, Trump denounced Petro as an "illegal drug lord" who is "strongly encouraging the mass production of drugs, in fields large and small, throughout Colombia."
Trump added that the US will no longer provide subsidies to Colombia, which has historically been one of its closest allies in Latin America.
Both Colombia and neighboring Ecuador have significant Pacific coastlines, which experts have said are used to transport drugs north to the U.S. through Central America and Mexico.
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