The US carries out another attack against a boat linked to drug trafficking and kills two crew members
The Trump administration's campaign to destroy alleged drug trafficking vessels has left at least 196 dead in total
The US military attacked another ship suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing two men.
The United States Southern Command posted a video on social media showing a ship floating before being hit by an explosion. In the last seconds of the video, smoke and fire are seen coming out of the boat.
A day earlier, US forces had attacked a suspected drug trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. The Southern Command reported that it “immediately notified the United States Coast Guard to activate the search and rescue system for survivors.”
The Trump administration's campaign to destroy suspected drug trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has continued since early September and has left at least 196 dead in total. The military has not presented evidence that any of the vessels were transporting drugs.
The Pentagon watchdog said last week that it will evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework in carrying out attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels.
The joint targeting cycle, which consists of six phases, includes military commander intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution, and evaluation.
The Pentagon inspector general's office stated that the review was its own initiative. There will be no investigation into the legality of the attacks, which have come under intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military law experts.
The Trump administration claims the United States is at war against Latin American drug cartels, which it accuses of being responsible for the plague of fatal overdoses plaguing many American communities.

