The Pentagon said two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel on Thursday in international waters in a “highly provocative move.”
In a statement posted on the social media platform X on Thursday night, the Defense Department wrote the move “was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations.”
CBS News reported earlier on Thursday that two armed Venezuelan F-16 fighters flew over the USS Jason Dunham in what U.S. officials believed was a show of force.
Gdynia, Poland, 6th, May 2015 US Navy rocket destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) goes to Gdynia Port for short visit. Vessel is armed with SM-2 rocket and Tomahawk missiles.
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The move came after President Donald Trump announced earlier this week he had ordered U.S. military forces to strike a vessel in the Caribbean Sea that he said was carrying suspected Tren de Aragua drug smugglers, killing 11 people.
The statement from the Pentagon on Thursday went on to say: “The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military.”
The Navy recently deployed eight ships to the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean.