WASHINGTON, Oct 23, (AP): The US military on Wednesday launched its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing three people in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, expanding the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America. It followed another strike Tuesday night, also in the eastern Pacific, that killed two people, Hegseth posted on social media hours earlier.

The attacks were departures from the seven previous US strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean Sea. They bring the death toll to at least 37 from attacks that began last month. The strikes represent an expansion of the military's targeting area as well as a shift to the waters off South America where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.

Hegseth’s social media posts also drew a direct comparison between the war on terrorism that the US declared after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administration's crackdown. "Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Hegseth said, adding "there will be no refuge or forgiveness - only justice.”

Later Wednesday, he referred to the alleged drug-runners as "the ‘Al Qaeda’ of our hemisphere.” Republican President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an "armed conflict” with drug cartels and proclaiming the criminal organizations unlawful combatants, relying on the same legal authority used by President George W. Bush's administration for the war on terrorism.

Asked about the latest boat attack, Trump insisted that "we have legal authority. We’re allowed to do that.” He said similar strikes could eventually come on land. "We will hit them very hard when they come in by land,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We’re totally prepared to do that. And we’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when we come to the land.”

Lawmakers from both political parties have expressed concerns about Trump ordering the military actions without receiving authorization from Congress or providing many details. Appearing alongside Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended such strikes, saying, "If people want to stop seeing drug boats blow up, stop sending drugs to the United States.” Trump said the strikes he is ordering are meant to save Americans and "the only way you can’t feel bad about it ... is that you realize that every time you see that happen, you’re saving 25,000 lives.”