U.S. military attacked a suspected drug trafficking vessel on Wednesday, killing 8 people; Venezuela's president denied drug trafficking, saying the U.S. is focused on oil

International waters - On Wednesday, the U.S. military said that in multiple new attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels, 8 people were killed. Adding to this number, the death toll from Washington's efforts to combat drug smuggling has reached at least 115.

The U.S. Southern Command, which operates in Central and South America, announced two rounds of attack operations conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

The command stated in a statement that on Tuesday, three "drug trafficking vessels forming a convoy" were targeted in "international waters".

The statement said: "Three drug trafficking terrorists on the first ship were killed in the first firefight. The remaining drug trafficking terrorists abandoned the ship and fled into the sea away from the target, and their ships were later sunk in subsequent firefights."

The statement posted on X was accompanied by a video showing several ships sailing together at sea, followed by a series of explosions.

Since September, the U.S. military has carried out similar attacks on more than 30 vessels, claiming these vessels were used to smuggle drugs into the United States, but has not provided any conclusive evidence that these vessels were involved in drug smuggling activities.

International law experts and human rights organizations say these airstrikes likely constitute extrajudicial executions because the targets were clearly civilians who did not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

AFP reported that over the past few months, President Trump has launched a pressure campaign against Venezuela's leftist president Maduro, accusing him of running a drug trafficking gang. Maduro denied the allegations and accused Washington of trying to overthrow Maduro's government to gain access to the oil reserves of this Latin American country.

Sources: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1853131454256140/

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