US lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration for answers about military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, following reports that a follow-up strike was ordered to kill survivors of an initial attack.
Republican-led committees overseeing the Pentagon have vowed to conduct vigorous oversight into the US boat strikes in the Caribbean, following the report.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that a US strike on a boat on 2 September left two survivors, but a second attack was carried out to comply with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's orders to kill everybody on board.
Hegseth decried the report as fake news and President Donald Trump said he believed him 100%.
The US has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean and carried out a series of lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia, as part of what it calls is an anti-narcotics operation.
More than 80 people have been killed since early September.
The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defence by destroying boats carrying illicit drugs to the US.
In its report on Friday, The Washington Post wrote that Secretary Hegseth gave a spoken directive to kill everybody on board one such vessel, and a Special Operations commander overseeing the operation ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth's instructions.
Republican and Democrat lawmakers appearing on Sunday talk shows expressed concerns regarding the legality of targeting survivors and supported congressional reviews of US military strikes.
This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true, said Democrat Senator Tim Kaine on CBS Face the Nation.
Republican lawmaker Mike Turner agreed that such an action could be illegal if it occurred.
The comments follow the Senate Armed Services Committee's announcement on Friday that they planned to conduct vigorous oversight on the strikes.
Senators Roger Wicker and Jack Reed confirmed that inquiries have been directed to the Department of Defense regarding alleged follow-on strikes.
In a post on social media, Hegseth rejected accusations of misconduct, stating that the operations were lawful under US and international law.
The Venezuelan National Assembly condemned the strikes, calling for an investigation into the allegations of a second attack that allegedly killed two survivors.
As tensions mount, the US military's legal framework regarding operations in international waters has come under scrutiny, with experts highlighting that action should generally prioritize non-lethal measures.
