US Strikes Continue to Combat Pacific Drug Trafficking

The US military has announced a lethal strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization in the eastern Pacific Ocean. This marks the fifth such strike in as many days, with the latest operation resulting in the deaths of three male narco-terrorists. The US southern command stated that the strike was conducted to combat narco-trafficking in the region. The total death toll from these strikes now stands at 177, according to a tally compiled by the AFP news agency.

The US has been engaged in a war against narco-terrorists operating in Latin America, but the legality of these operations has been questioned by international legal experts and rights groups. They argue that the strikes likely amount to extrajudicial killings as they have targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

In January, lawyers filed a federal lawsuit against the US on behalf of the families of two men from a fishing village in Trinidad who were killed in an October strike on a small boat in the Caribbean. The lawsuit claims that the 'premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification'.

The US military has continued to conduct boat strikes in Latin America even as it has focused on operations in the Middle East. The Democratic representatives Joaquin Castro and Sara Jacobs have raised alarms about the killings and noted the names and nationalities of most victims remain unknown.