Hegseth says six people killed in two new US attacks on alleged drug boats

US defense secretary says without providing evidence that dead from strikes in eastern Pacific were narco-terrorists'

US forces struck two more alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of South America, killing six people, the Trump administration's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said.

The US began carrying out such strikes - which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers - in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. More than 70 people have been killed in the strikes so far.