World

US kills three in strike on suspected drug boat

By AAP Newswire

May 6, 2026

US military jets — The US military says it has struck a drug smuggling vessel ‌in the Pacific, killing three people. -AP

The US military has once again attacked a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men, the regional command posted online.

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"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) wrote on social media platform X on Tuesday.

The information provided by the US military could not initially be independently verified.

No ‌US military ‌forces ⁠were harmed, it said.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has been targeting boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September, saying the operations are aimed at curbing international drug trafficking.

The US military's strikes on such vessels have killed more than 170 people since September, with experts and human rights advocates, questioning the legality of the strikes.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the strikes amount to "unlawful extrajudicial killings".

The American Civil Liberties Union casts the assertions by the Trump administration against those it targets as "unsubstantiated, ⁠fear-mongering claims".

with Reuters