US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military activities in Latin America, said it conducted two of the strikes in the Eastern Pacific and one in the Caribbean as part of a campaign dubbed Operation Southern Spear.
Eleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean,” SOUTHCOM said in a social media post on Tuesday.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has been attacking what it says are drug-trafficking boats in the waters off South America since September 2, as part of a broader campaign against regional drug cartels.
But legal experts have condemned the campaign as a series of extrajudicial killings. At least 145 people have been killed strikes since September, though estimates vary. AlJazeera reported.
“US confesses to its 146th murder of civilians at sea after its 43rd illegal military strike against alleged ‘narco-terrorists’,” United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism Ben Saul said in a social media post responding to the most recent strike.
“US leaders must be held accountable by US or international justice.”
The identities of those killed have never been formally released to the public, nor has any evidence been released to substantiate the claims that they were connected to drug trafficking.
