(MENAFN) US Senators Roger Wicker and Jack Reed announced on Saturday that they will launch an investigation into allegations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an order to kill everyone aboard boats suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific regions.

Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Reed, a Democratic member of the committee, stated that they would pursue “vigorous oversight” in response to reports suggesting Hegseth authorized strikes against boats involved in drug smuggling. In a joint statement, they confirmed that the Committee had directed inquiries to the Department of Defense and would investigate the facts surrounding the allegations.

The Committee is looking into recent media reports, which revealed that a military strike in September near the shores of Trinidad and Tobago resulted in the deaths of 11 people aboard a boat suspected of transporting narcotics. According to the report, the strike, which was allegedly carried out following Hegseth's directive, was followed by a second strike order from Admiral Frank Bradley, resulting in the deaths of two survivors.

Sources cited by a news agency suggested that Hegseth had issued an order to "kill everyone on the boat." The Senate Armed Services Committee's investigation aims to determine the accuracy of these claims and the circumstances surrounding the incident.

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