One person killed in latest US military strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific

Nearly 200 people killed in Trump administration’s deadly campaign as strikes draw widespread condemnation

The US military launched another strike Tuesday on a vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one man and leaving two survivors.

Video posted on social media by US Southern Command shows a boat speeding through water before exploding into flames. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the US 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, has gone on since early September and killed at least 194 people in total.

The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

The Pentagon watchdog said last week it would evaluate whether the US military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats. The six-phase joint targeting cycle include 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 said it would not investigate the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military and legal scholars.

The Trump administration says the US 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.