The United States struck two alleged drug-carrying vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Sunday, killing six people on board, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday, as calls mounted for investigations into the strikes.
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“These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and were transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route,” Hegseth wrote in a social media post, which included a video of the boats being struck.
The US has carried out more than a dozen strikes since September on vessels near the Venezuelan coast and, more recently, in the eastern Pacific, killing more than 70 people, according to Hegseth, as the US escalates a military build-up in the Caribbean.
The US has alleged, without presenting evidence, that the boats it bombed were carrying drugs but foreign leaders, some members of Congress, legal experts and family members of those killed have called for proof.
The United Nations has urged Washington to halt the strikes, with UN rights chief Volker Turk on Monday saying there are “strong indications” they violate international human rights law.
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“I have called for investigations by the US administration first and foremost, because they need to … ask themselves the question: are these violations of international human rights law? Are they extrajudicial killings?” Turk told Agence France-Presse.
“I mean, there are strong indications that they are, but they need to investigate this,” he said.