US kills 6 people in strike on boat accused of carrying drugs near Venezuela, Trump says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

Those who died in the strike were aboard the vessel, and no U.S. forces were harmed, the president said in a social media post. It’s the fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean as Trump's administration has asserted it's treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the strike Tuesday morning, said Trump, who released a video of it as he has in the past. Hegseth later shared the video in a post on X.

The black-and-white video showed a small boat that appeared stationary on the water. Seconds into the video, it is struck by a projectile from overhead and explodes. The boat is then seen floating aflame for several seconds.

Trump said the strike was conducted in international waters and “intelligence” confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with “narcoterrorist networks” and was on a known drug trafficking route.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking more information on the latest boat strike, but one defense official confirmed that the details in the social media post were accurate. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the strike and spoke on condition of anonymity.

James Story, former U.S. ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit from 2018 to 2023, served under Trump’s first term and under President Joe Biden. He told The Associated Press that ongoing American strikes on boats in the Caribbean may ultimately hinder counternarcotics efforts. By ruffling the feathers of longtime American allies in the region like Colombia, Story said, the strikes likely “hurt our ability to gather intelligence” from allies to crack down on drug trafficking organizations.

“If they believe that the intelligence they provide us will result in what some could describe as an extrajudicial killing, and nobody here is sympathetic to the plight of drug traffickers ... that puts us in a pretty bad spot,” Story said. ”It puts us in contravention with international law and it undermines our ability to work in the hemisphere.”

Meanwhile, frustration with the Trump administration has been growing on Capitol Hill among members of both major political parties. Some Republicans are seeking more information from the White House on the legal justification and details of the strikes. Democrats contend the strikes violate U.S. and international law.

The Senate last week voted on a war powers resolution that would have barred the Trump administration from conducting the strikes unless Congress specifically authorized them, but it failed to pass.

In a memo to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press, the Trump administration said it had “determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations” and that Trump directed the Pentagon to “conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict.”

The Trump administration has yet to provide underlying evidence to lawmakers proving that the boats targeted by the U.S. military were in fact carrying narcotics, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

California Sen. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who last week pushed the vote on the Venezuela resolution, said in a post on X that the president’s authority to respond to an armed attack or the threat of one was limited and did not apply.

“These continued strikes — 27 killed to date — risk getting the U.S. into a full fledged war,” Schiff said. He said he would push for another vote if the strikes continue.

The strikes followed a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean unlike any seen in recent times.

Following Tuesday's strike, Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro, called on the press to combat U.S. “lies” that are being used to justify a possible invasion.

The government had convened foreign media and dozens of leaders of local media outlets for Rodríguez’s message.

“The objective is not the search for the truth and much less fighting drug trafficking,” Rodríguez said. It’s about “looking for the way to have an excuse for aggression.”

“We’re not asking you to make up anything, but rather to defend the truth,” he said.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Washington, Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Argentina's President Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House, early Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, after returning from a trip to Israel and Egypt. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House, early Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, after returning from a trip to Israel and Egypt. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump waits to greet Argentina's President Javier Milei, as he arrives at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House, early Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, after returning from a trip to Israel and Egypt. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire ripped through a popular nightclub in India’s Goa state, killing 25 people, including tourists, the state’s chief minister said Sunday.

The blaze occurred just past midnight in Arpora village in North Goa, a party hub, some 25 kilometers (15-miles) from the state capital, Panaji.

Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said most of the dead were the club’s kitchen workers, as well as three to four tourists. Six people were injured and are in stable condition, he said. All the bodies have been recovered.

The fire was caused by a gas cylinder blast and has been extinguished, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting local police. However, witnesses told the agency that the fire began on the club’s first floor, where nearly 100 tourists were on the dance floor. Several rushed to the kitchen below in the chaos and got trapped along with staff, it said.

Fatima Shaikh said the commotion began as flames erupted, according to the news agency. “We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames,” she said.

The nightclub, located along the Arpora River backwaters, had a narrow entry and exit that forced the firefighters to park their tankers about 400 meters (1,300 feet) away, delaying the efforts, the news agency said.

Sawant said the club had violated fire safety regulations. The state government ordered an inquiry to determine the exact cause of the fire and responsibility, he said, adding that authorities would act against the club management and officials who allowed it to operate despite the violations.

Local village council official Roshan Redkar told the news agency that authorities had earlier issued a demolition notice for the club, which didn't have construction permit from the government. But higher officials rolled back the order, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a social media post called the fire "deeply saddening# and said he spoke with Sawant. Modi said the government “is providing all possible assistance” while offering condolences to the victims’ families.

Accidents, particularly involving gas cylinders and electric short circuits, aren’t uncommon in India and often result in casualties, underlining the need for authorities to implement stringent safety protocols.

“This is not just an accident; it is a criminal failure of safety and governance,” Rahul Gandhi, a top leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, wrote in a social media post. He called for a transparent probe to "fix accountability and ensure such preventable tragedies don’t occur again.”

The western coastal state of Goa is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, known for its sandy beaches.

The charred interiors of a nightclub, which caught fire early Sunday, are seen in Arpora, Goa, India, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)