US military strikes another alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing 3

[ad_1] WASHINGTON -- The U.S. army mentioned Friday that it has carried out one other lethal strike on a vessel accused of trafficking medication within the Jap Pacific Ocean.

U.S. Southern Command mentioned on social media that the boat “was transiting alongside identified narco-trafficking routes within the Jap Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It mentioned the strike killed three folks. A video linked to the submit reveals a ship floating within the water earlier than bursting into flames.

Friday’s assault raises the demise toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to not less than 148 folks in not less than 43 assaults carried out since early September within the Caribbean Sea and jap Pacific Ocean.

President Donald Trump has mentioned the U.S. is in “armed battle” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the assaults as a needed escalation to stem the movement of medication. However his administration has supplied little proof to help its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the general legality of the strikes in addition to their effectiveness, partly as a result of the fentanyl behind many deadly overdoses is often trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico, the place it's produced with chemical compounds imported from China and India.

The boat strikes additionally drew intense criticism following the revelation that the army killed survivors of the very first boat assault with a follow-up strike. The Trump administration and lots of Republican lawmakers mentioned it was authorized and needed, whereas Democratic lawmakers and authorized consultants mentioned the killings have been homicide, if not a warfare crime.