US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills one

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A US military attack on what it called a drug trafficking boat in the Eastern Pacific has killed a person and left two others stranded at sea, officials said, in continuation of a pattern that has raised alarm among global rights organisations.

“One male narco-terrorist was killed during this action and there were two survivors,” US Southern Command wrote in a post to X on Tuesday. It added that it “immediately notified the US Coast Guard to activate the search and rescue system for the survivors”.

A video posted on social media by the US Southern Command shows a boat speeding through water before exploding into flames. No survivors could be spotted in the video.

US President Donald Trump has said that the country is “in armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of fatal drug overdoses plaguing many US communities.

Dozens of similar strikes have killed at least 194 people since last September, according to an Associated Press tally, in a military operation dubbed “Southern Spear”.

The US military claimed that the targeted vessel was “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” and was “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific” for drug trafficking. It did not offer more details or any evidence to back the allegation.

Legal experts and rights groups say the strikes on the boats could amount to extrajudicial killings because they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration noted that the president had signed off on a new “counterterrorism strategy” that places eliminating drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere as the administration’s highest priority.