A US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean left four people dead, according to officials who said the vessel was tied to drug smuggling.
“Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed four narco-terrorists,” SOUTHCOM, which commands US forces in the region, said in a statement, along with a grainy video of the attack on the boat.
The attack comes amid a wider US campaign in the region. The US military launched operation “Southern Spear” in early September, after US President Donald Trump argued Washington is effectively at war with drug cartels operating out of Latin America.
Since then, more than 200 people have been killed in strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, according to a tally.
Mr Trump’s administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has been striking are involved in drug trafficking.
Legal experts and rights groups say the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings.
