The US military said on Tuesday it killed five people after an airstrike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific.
Tuesday’s strike was among more than 70 such attacks since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidency, according to media tallies. Collectively, they have killed more than 240 people.
The Trump administration has maintained the people and boats were involved in trafficking. Trump has said the US is locked in armed conflict with Latin American cartels while justifying strikes as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the US.
But the Trump administration has not provided definitive evidence to back up its contentions of drug trafficking and has prompted debate about the legality of the strikes.
Legal experts and rights groups argue the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings because they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the US.
Reuters, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed reporting
