United News of Bangladesh

The US military carried out another strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, killing one person and leaving two others alive, officials said. U.S. Southern Command shared video of the operation showing a speedboat travelling across the water before being hit and bursting into flames. The command said it immediately alerted the US Coast Guard to launch a search and rescue operation for the survivors. The latest attack is part of an ongoing US military campaign against suspected drug trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including both the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, which began in September. Officials say the campaign has killed at least 194 people so far. However, the military has not publicly presented evidence that the targeted boats were actually carrying drugs. The Pentagon’s inspector general has recently launched a review to check whether proper targeting procedures were followed during such strikes. The review will look at operational decision-making but will not examine the legality of the attacks, which have drawn criticism from some lawmakers and legal experts. The Trump administration maintains that the US is effectively in a conflict with Latin American drug cartels, which it blames for rising drug overdose deaths in the United States.