Another US strike on alleged drug traffickers kills 3 in Eastern Pacific

A U.S. strike on suspected drug smugglers on Thursday has killed three people in the Eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command said.

The attack raises the death toll from the U.S. strikes to least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narcotrafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a news release.

The statement included a 15-second video of the strike. No U.S. military forces were harmed.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

The Pentagon’s internal watchdog announced last month that it would launch an investigation into whether the U.S. strikes against drug boats have followed targeting guidelines.

The investigation into Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s name for the campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America, was self-initiated and not in response to a congressional query.