WASHINGTON: The US military said Monday it killed two people in its latest strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific.

President Donald Trump's administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, insisting it is effectively at war with alleged "narco-terrorists" operating out of Venezuela.

"Two narco-terrorists were killed, and one survived the strike," US Southern Command said in a statement on X.

It added that the US Coast Guard was notified to "activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor."

Administration officials have provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations that have expanded from the Caribbean to the Pacific.

Monday's lethal attack brings the total killed to at least 130 in 38 such strikes.

It also marks the third reported US strike on an alleged drug boat in the region since the January capture by US special forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who had said the American campaign of strikes was aimed at pushing regime change in the South American country.

The leftist leader is incarcerated in the United States, where he has pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges.

Last month, the relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in one of the strikes sued the US government for wrongful death in an October 14 strike.

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Two killed in US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific: military