Four U.S. officials said on Saturday that the Trump administration was moving to send two survivors from a strike in the Caribbean on Thursday to another country, rather than putting them in military detention.

The nationalities of two detainees could not be determined definitively. Officials said that it was possible one of them could be Colombian but they did not confirm this information.

After the attack on the semi-submersible vessel suspected of illegal drug trafficking, the U.S. Military staged a rescue helicopter for the survivors. Sources told Friday that the strike also killed two other crew members.

The U.S. Military flew the survivors from the Caribbean to a U.S. Navy Warship, where they remained until at least Friday night. On Saturday morning, it was unclear if the survivors had already been taken off the ship.

Officials from the United States, who spoke under condition of anonymity said they expected that survivors would eventually be sent back to their countries. There was no information on the conditions that might surround such a transfer.

Legal experts claim that by sending the survivors home, the U.S. Military will avoid the difficult legal issues relating to the detention of suspected drug traffickers whose crimes are not clearly covered under the laws and regulations of war.

Trump said to reporters on Friday that the strike targeted "a drug-carrying sub built specifically for transporting massive amounts of drugs."

He didn't comment on the number of people who died or survived.

The Pentagon did not respond immediately to a comment request and has yet to provide any details about the attack. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft, Nick Zieminski and Phil Stewart)

(source: Reuters)