The US military announced on Friday that it killed two people in an attack on a boat in the eastern Pacific, part of a series of deadly strikes on vessels it claims are targeting narco-trafficking operations. The US Southern Command said General Francis L Donovan directed Joint Task Force Southern Spear to carry out the lethal strike, and released a video showing a small boat being destroyed in an explosion.
This campaign, which began last September, has killed at least 178 people. However, detailed evidence supporting claims that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking is lacking. Legal experts argue the strikes violate domestic and international law, and families of two men from Trinidad killed in a previous strike have filed a lawsuit against the US government.
The Trump administration maintains the strikes are legal, asserting the US is at war with drug cartels. President Donald Trump has described the campaign as necessary to prevent overdose deaths and stop illicit drugs entering the country, calling it "an act of kindness."
Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have vowed to challenge the legality of the attacks. Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, stated they are seeking an investigation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights into what he called "heinous killings." UN officials have also described the campaign as a flagrant violation of human rights.
