Another alleged drug boat struck by U.S. military in eastern Pacific, killing 2, SOUTHCOM says

The U.S. military said it struck another vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing two men.

The U.S. Southern Command posted video on social media showing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion. The last few seconds of the video show smoke and fire rising from the boat.

A day earlier, U.S. forces launched a strike on another alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since early September and killed at least 196 people in total. 

The Pentagon watchdog said last week that it will evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats. The six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle includes a military commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.

The Pentagon inspector general’s office said the review was “self-initiated.”

It won’t probe the legality of the strikes. They have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars because the military hasn’t provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs, so at least some of the strikes may have targeted civilians who don’t pose an immediate threat to the United States.

The Trump administration says the U.S. is at war against the Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of fatal drug overdoses plaguing many American communities.