Four people were killed in a U.S. military strike Wednesday on an alleged drug-running boat in the Eastern Pacific, the Pentagon said. It marks the latest in a series of strikes dating back to early September that the U.S. has conducted on what it claims are drug-trafficking vessels in the region.

Axar.az informs, citing CBS news, in a social media post, U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Central and South America, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the "lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters."

"Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," Southern Command said.

The victims were described as "four male narco-terrorists." The U.S. military provided no evidence to support allegations that the boat was ferrying drugs.