The US military attacked a boat in the Pacific Ocean which he said was used for drug smuggling, which killed a man and left two survivors, as part of the campaign USA against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America.
Tuesday’s attack brings to at least 208 the number of people who have died from US military attacks on boats since the US government donald trump launched its campaign against what it alleges are “narcoterrorists” in September.
As with most military communications regarding attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Seahe Southern Command The U.S. military said it targeted suspected traffickers along known smuggling routes.
The United States did not provide evidence that the vessel was transporting drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat moving on the water before being attacked and bursting into flames.
The Southern Command indicated that it “immediately notified the United States Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for survivors.”
Trump alleges that the United States is in “armed conflict” with cartels Latin America and says the attacks are necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and overdose deaths. But the US government has offered little evidence to support its claims that it is killing “narcoterrorists.”
Critics have questioned the overall legality of boat attacks, as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is often trafficked into the United States overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
The attacks have come under intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military law scholars. The first attack of united states army in early September it generated particular concern.
Two men on the boat survived the first attack that killed nine others, and were clinging to the wreckage when the ship was attacked again by the US military, killing them. The White House confirmed the auction and insisted that it was carried out “in self-defense” to guarantee that the boat was destroyed, claiming that it respected the laws of armed conflict.
But some legal experts noted that a second attack that killed survivors would have been illegal under any circumstances, whether there was armed conflict or not.
The supervisory body of the Pentagon said in May that it plans to investigate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework in carrying out the attacks.
However, the evaluation focuses specifically on what is known as the Joint Objective Selection Cycle six phases and not on the legality of the attacks, the inspector general’s office said.
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