President Donald Trump has said US forces carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel which he said was trafficking drugs, and the attack killed three “male narcoterrorists” on board.

Trump said he ordered the attack on the boat, which was in the US Southern Command’s area of responsibility, after US intelligence confirmed it was trafficking drugs. It was the third such strike on alleged drug boats in recent weeks.

Trump’s statement on Truth Social on Friday said the strike happened in international waters. The US Southern Command’s area of responsibility covers most of South America and the Caribbean.

Two previous strikes have killed a total of 14 people on boats allegedly from Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has previously condemned the strikes and said his country will defend itself against US “aggression”.

Trump’s post on Friday evening mirrored previous announcements of such strikes. It featured a video showing the boat travelling on a body of water, and seconds later it explodes and bursts into flames.

“On my Orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump said.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans,” he wrote.

“No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!”

Legal experts previously told the BBC that the fatal strike on the first vessel in international waters may have violated international human rights and maritime law.