WASHINGTON: The US military has killed six more people in strikes on what it claims were drug-running boats, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday, bringing the total death toll in the series of attacks to 76.
Hegseth, in a post on X, said the US had carried out the strikes on Sunday in international waters in the eastern Pacific, targeting two boats “carrying narcotics” with three people on board each.
“All 6 were killed. No US forces were harmed,” he said.
As in previous strikes, which began under President Donald Trump’s administration in September, US officials did not release the identities of those killed, or offer evidence that they were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.
Experts say the strikes, which have taken place in both the Pacific and Caribbean, amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers.
Hegseth said the two vessels were “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” but did not name the groups.
The Trump administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the strikes.
Video accompanying the post showed a strike on one boat sitting stationary in the water, and a separate open-top vessel exploding while underway.
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