Washington, May 30 (QNA) - The US military confirmed it had carried out a strike against a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Friday, killing three men.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that intelligence indicated the vessel was operated by a "Designated Terrorist Organization" and was actively engaged in drug-trafficking operations.

The strike was the third such operation reported this week, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration's months-long maritime counter-narcotics campaign, which targets vessels suspected of drug trafficking in the Pacific and Caribbean regions, to more than 200.

The operations have drawn criticism from United Nations experts and officials, who have described them as extrajudicial killings. The US military has not publicly released evidence supporting its allegations that the targeted vessels were involved in drug-trafficking activities. (QNA)