Colombian president accuses U.S. of "extrajudicial executions"

Dead body.

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 23 (Xinhua/UNB) -- Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday denounced the U.S. military attacks against vessels allegedly loaded with drugs in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean as "extrajudicial executions". 

In "this type of maneuver, which we believe violates international law, the United States ... is committing extrajudicial executions," said the president. The suspected drug traffickers should be brought to justice and not murdered, he noted. 

The U.S. military carried out two strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific this week, killing all people on board each vessel, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

The attacks were reportedly near Colombia's Pacific coast. The U.S. military previously conducted seven such operations in the Caribbean Sea since September, mainly against boats accused of trafficking drugs from Venezuela to the United States. 

The death toll has risen to at least 37 in the U.S. boat strikes.