In a renewed strike by the US military on a small boat allegedly carrying illegal drugs, four people have been killed, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says. The attack, he said, was carried out on the orders of US President Donald Trump in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. Hegseth said the boat was carrying a "substantial amounts of narcotics" and was en route to the United States. US media reported on Thursday that the administration viewed the United States as being engaged in a "non-national armed conflict" with drug cartels. According to the reports, the administration classifies the drug cartels and the alleged smugglers associated with them as "unlawful combatants".