WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the U.S. decision to repatriate two survivors of a recent military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling submarine, likening it to battlefield practices during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“In those conflicts, we captured thousands on the battlefield and handed over 99% to host nation authorities,” Hegseth said on Thursday. “Did we always like the outcome? Not always. But it was the standard, and it’s the same here.”
The semi-submersible vessel, allegedly transporting fentanyl and other narcotics, was intercepted by U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea last Thursday.
Two individuals aboard were killed in the strike, while the surviving crew members were rescued, treated by American medics, and handed over to authorities in Colombia and Ecuador.
(Reporting By Gram Slattery and Jarrett Renshaw)
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