It’s unclear whether survivors will be treated as prisoners of war or criminal defendants by US military

The US has seized survivors of a military strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean, the first since Donald Trump began launching deadly attacks in the region last month, according to officials in Washington.

Thursday’s attack is believed to be at least the sixth strike in the waters off Venezuela since early September, and the first to result in survivors who were picked up by the US military. It was not immediately clear what would be done with the survivors, who the officials said were being held on a US navy vessel.