The US military killed two men in another incident suspected of attacking drug boats in the eastern Pacific
The US Navy said it killed two people in a strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, bringing the death toll to at least 170 since the strikes began last September.
The US Southern Command, which is in charge of Washington’s military in the region, said in a post to X that “the vessel was traveling on known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and is engaged in drug trafficking.”
“Two male terrorists were killed during the operation. No US soldiers were injured,” the post said.
CBS News reached out to the US Southern Command for evidence of the ship’s narco-terror operations.
The spokesperson responded that they rely on “a rigorous process of intelligence gathering and analysis, which can include multi-source intelligence, surveillance, and re-examination to confirm illegal activity” before any operation.
“In this case, the vessel in question was identified through coordinated intelligence efforts as it operates on established drug-trafficking routes and was assessed to be engaged in activities related to drug-trafficking,” the spokesperson said, adding, “For security reasons, we cannot discuss specific sources or methods.”
The latest strike comes two days after a US military strike they killed five people in two boatsand in the eastern Pacific. One person survived those strikes, the US Southern Command said.
In at least six cases, people have survived strikes by suspected drug-trafficking boats, leading to search and rescue efforts in many cases. The authorities have done that it ended a lot of searchingalthough in another October program, two survived picked up by a Navy helicopter and they were sent back to their countries in Ecuador and Colombia.
The military’s treatment of survivors has drawn much scrutiny. During the first boat strike on September 2, two people they survived the first strike but were killed in the subsequent attackleading to accusations that the second strike may constitute a war crime. Democratic lawmakers who watched a video of the Sept. 2 performance they were very critical of the strike. The Defense Department and many Republicans in Congress insisted that the survivors might have continued to fight, authorizing the next strike.
The Trump administration has targeted suspected “drug terrorists” operating in Latin America, calling those accused of drug trafficking “illegal fighters,” as well. he told Congress The US is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with the cartels.
But it did not provide clear evidence that the vessels it targeted were involved in drug trafficking, fueling a heated debate over the legality of the operations.
International legal experts and human rights groups say the strikes may amount to extrajudicial killings since they clearly targeted people who pose no threat to the United States.
