US kills 3 in strike on alleged drug smuggling boat in Eastern Pacific

The United States military has killed at least three people in a strike on a boat in the Eastern Pacific Ocean that it alleged was smuggling drugs.

The attack, carried out on Thursday, was the latest in a series of strikes on vessels close to the US. The Trump administration says it is cracking down on drug traffickers.

According to Washington, the attack targeted a ship that was carrying unidentified narcotics from Latin America to the US.

The US Southern Command said in a social media post that it had conducted a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organisations”.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action,” the statement added.

An unclassified video attached to the statement appeared to show the moment a speeding boat was struck by a missile and went up in flames.

At least 211 people have now been killed in such strikes in the Pacific.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that the country is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels in Latin America, and that his administration is seeking to stem the flow of drugs.

However, his administration has not offered concrete evidence connecting all those killed with drug trafficking, with some accusing the US of killing local fishermen with no known links to cartels.

Critics have consistently questioned the legality of the strikes, including US politicians and human rights groups.

On Thursday, US senators demanded that the Pentagon release “unedited” videos of the boat strikes.

The first attack in September drew particular scrutiny from US lawmakers after the military confirmed it used a “double-tap” approach that killed two survivors of an initial hit. Eleven people were killed in that strike.

Trump’s administration has insisted that the follow-up hit was in “self-defense,” but critics say it is illegal to kill survivors.