US strike on suspected drug-trafficking boat kills three

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Washington: Three people were killed after the United States launched a military attack on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, according to officials. The attack is part of Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration's stepped-up effort to combat drug gangs in Latin America that was started earlier this month.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) claims that intelligence showed the boat was actively engaged in drug smuggling and was going following established drug-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific. The military said that the hit was directed at the boat based on intelligence evaluations, but it did not make official data to support its claims.

This marked the second strike of the week. One person was killed in another U.S. hit on a suspected smuggling boat on Tuesday, but two others are said to have survived. According to the AFP report, over 200 people have died in military attacks over the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since the start of Operation Southern Spear.

Human rights organisations and legal experts have criticised the administration increasingly strongly for the attempt, contending that it has not shown conclusive evidence connecting the targeted boats to drug trafficking. Also, they have cautioned that since the targets of the strikes seem to be people who did not immediately constitute a threat to the United States, they could lead to illegal murders.