US says four killed in new strike on suspected drug boat in Pacific

The US military said it carried out a new strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in international waters in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, killing four men.

The US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said on social media platform X that the boat was "transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations." The information could not be independently verified.

According to SOUTHCOM, four men were killed in the "lethal kinetic strike." The military released a short video that it said showed the attack, with aerial footage appearing to first show the hit and then the vessel on fire.

Since September, US forces have repeatedly targeted vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that they say are carrying drugs, citing intelligence assessments. The military has not publicly provided evidence to substantiate the claims.

US media counts suggest more than 90 people have been killed in the operations so far. The US administration has described those killed as drug traffickers and "terrorists," but the strikes have drawn sharp criticism.

UN human rights experts have said the operations may violate international law, describing the killings as unlawful extrajudicial killings.