US strike on vessel in eastern Pacific kills two

A US military strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel killed two people, pushing the reported death toll from Washington’s campaign against what it calls “narco-terrorists” in Latin America to at least 182.

In a post on X, US Southern Command, which oversees American forces in the region, said the military had “conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organisations.”

It said intelligence had determined the vessel was moving along established drug-smuggling routes in the Eastern Pacific and was involved in trafficking operations, repeating language the command has used in describing dozens of deadly missions since the campaign was launched last September.

US military officials have reported at least seven such strikes in April alone, bringing the number of people killed in the operations to no fewer than 182, according to an AFP tally.

International legal specialists and human rights groups argue the attacks likely constitute extrajudicial killings, saying they appear to have targeted civilians who posed no immediate threat to the United States.