US B-52 bombers fly off coast of Venezuela

A pair of US B-52 bombers flew over the Caribbean Sea along the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, flight tracking data showed, in the fourth such show of force by American military aircraft in recent weeks.

The flight comes as Washington carries out a military campaign against alleged drug smugglers in the region, deploying naval and air forces it says are aimed at curbing trafficking but which have sparked fears in Caracas that regime change is the goal.

Data from tracking website Flightradar24 showed the two bombers flying parallel to the Venezuelan coast, then circling northeast of Caracas before heading back along the coast and turning north and flying further out to sea.

US forces on Thursday struck another alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing three people, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from Washington's controversial anti-narcotics campaign to at least 70.

The US strikes have destroyed at least 18 vessels so far -- 17 boats and a semi-submersible -- but Washington has yet to make public any concrete evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.

Hegseth released aerial footage on X of the latest strike, which he said took place in international waters like the previous strikes and targeted "a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization."

The video showed a boat traveling through the water before exploding into flames.