US military says it struck vessel in Eastern Pacific, killing three

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper flies over Springfield-Beckley Air National Guard Base, Ohio, March 12, 2024. (U.S. Air National Guard photo)

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday it struck a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three people, in the latest such attack that rights groups label as "extrajudicial killings" and Washington describes as targeting "narco-terrorists."

• The U.S. Southern Command alleged that the vessel struck on Tuesday was operated by "Designated Terrorist Organizations" that it did not identify.

• It said that no U.S. military forces were harmed. It described those killed as "male narco-terrorists," without offering details.

• "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the U.S. Southern Command said on X.

• The U.S. military has made numerous such deadly strikes in the Eastern Pacific in recent weeks.

• President Donald Trump's administration has been striking vessels that it accuses of transporting narcotics.

• The U.S. military's strikes on such vessels have killed more than 170 people since September.

• Experts and human rights advocates, both in the U.S. and globally, have questioned the legality of the strikes.

• Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the strikes amount to "unlawful extrajudicial killings."

• The American Civil Liberties Union casts the assertions by the Trump administration against those it targets as "unsubstantiated, fear-mongering claims."

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Neil Fullick)