The US military has announced that it killed two people in an attack on a boat in the eastern Pacific, the latest in a series of deadly strikes it claims are targeting narco-trafficking operations. The US Southern Command stated on social media that General Francis L Donovan directed Joint Task Force Southern Spear to carry out the lethal strike, releasing an unclassified video showing a small boat being destroyed in an explosion.
The campaign, which began in September last year, has now killed at least 178 people. However, legal experts argue that the US military is violating domestic and international law, as there is no detailed evidence linking the vessels to drug trafficking. The Trump administration maintains the strikes are legal, claiming the US is at war with drug cartels and that the actions prevent overdose deaths.
Civil rights groups have vowed to challenge the legality of the attacks. The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate, describing the killings as heinous violations of US and international law. UN officials have also condemned the campaign as a flagrant violation of human rights.
