WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military on Thursday carried out a strike on a boat allegedly transporting narcotics in international waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing all four people on board, the U.S. Southern Command said.

The command said on X that the strike was conducted at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as part of Joint Task Force Southern Spear's ongoing counternarcotics operations. It added that intelligence assessed the vessel to be operated by a "Designated Terrorist Organization."

"Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed," said the post, not revealing evidence or identifying the group.

As of Thursday, the Pentagon has carried out at least 22 known strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since Sept. 2, killing more than 87 people aboard.

The operations have also drawn attention after a Sept. 2 incident in which two survivors of a destroyed boat were killed in a follow-up strike.

U.S. Navy Admiral Frank Bradley, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, told lawmakers on Thursday that Hegseth never issued any order to "kill everyone" aboard alleged drug-trafficking boats, adding that he regarded the two survivors killed in a Sept. 2 follow-up strike as legitimate military targets under the rules governing the operation against narco-terrorists.

Hegseth said Tuesday that he did not see a second, follow-up strike targeting survivors aboard an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2, citing "the fog of war."

Critics, including some Republican lawmakers, have for months questioned whether counternarcotics is the only U.S. motive and have raised concerns about the legality of the military operations in the Caribbean.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly condemned Washington's actions as attempts to overthrow his government and expand the U.S. military influence in Latin America. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. government of "murder" for killing drug suspects at sea. Enditem