Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Jan 1: The United States military on Wednesday said eight more people were killed in fresh strikes on vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking, taking the total death toll in Washington’s ongoing campaign to at least 115.
US Southern Command, which oversees American military operations in Central and South America, said the latest strikes were carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday in two separate operations.
In the first incident on Tuesday, three vessels suspected of narco-trafficking and travelling as a convoy were targeted in international waters. According to the military, three people aboard one vessel were killed in the initial strike, while occupants of the remaining two boats reportedly jumped overboard before follow-up strikes destroyed those vessels.
A video shared by the US military on social media platform X showed the boats moving together at sea before being hit by a series of explosions. However, officials did not disclose the exact location of the strikes, which in the past have occurred in the Caribbean Sea or the eastern Pacific Ocean.
The military said the US Coast Guard had been alerted to activate search and rescue operations, though no further details were provided on the fate of those who abandoned the vessels.
Hours later, US Southern Command announced a second set of strikes on Wednesday, in which two more vessels were hit, resulting in the deaths of five people. The location of these strikes was also not specified.
Since September, the US military has carried out more than 30 such operations against what it claims are drug-smuggling boats bound for the United States. However, it has not publicly presented concrete evidence linking the targeted vessels to narcotics trafficking.
International law experts and human rights organisations have raised serious concerns, arguing that the strikes may amount to extrajudicial killings, as those targeted appear to be civilians who posed no immediate threat to the US.
The operations come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas, with US President Donald Trump accusing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of running a drug cartel. Maduro has strongly denied the allegations and accused the US of attempting regime change to gain control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.