FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) -The U.S. military killed three men in a strike on a suspected drug vessel in international waters in the Caribbean on Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

Hegseth, said in a post on social media website X that the vessel was operated by a "Designated Terrorist Organization" but provided no further evidence. His post included a 20-second video clip, marked unclassified, of a boat in the water that gets struck by a munition and explodes.

The military action was the latest of more than a dozen U.S. strikes since September on vessels near the Venezuelan coast and, more recently, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, that have killed more than 60 people.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)