The US military killed three people after striking a boat suspected of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The attack was the latest operation in US President Donald Trump's campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
The strike adds to a military effort that has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and legal experts, said the Associated Press. Critics have questioned its legality, effectiveness and targeting standards.
According to US Southern Command, the vessel was targeted along a known drug-smuggling route. The military, however, did not provide evidence that the boat was carrying narcotics. A video posted on X showed the vessel speeding through the water before being struck and bursting into flames. The southern command wrote, “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
The latest operation brings the number of people killed in US military boat strikes to at least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting what it calls ‘narcoterrorists’ in September.
Thee US president has argued that the United States is in ‘armed conflict’ with Latin American cartels and has defended the strikes as part of efforts to curb drug trafficking and overdose deaths in the US.
However, the administration has provided limited evidence to support its claims that those killed in the operations were ‘narcoterrorists’.
