Escalating Boat Strikes Campaign, U.S. Targets ‘Refueling’ Vessels

A year into its military boat strike campaign, the United States appears to be targeting a new type of vessel — large fishing boats off the coast of Ecuador that the Trump administration says provide fuel to smaller vessels carrying drugs.

On Tuesday night, the U.S. military announced the sixth such operation in two weeks, that showed a helicopter hovering over the ocean and military troops boarding a large fishing boat to remove the crew, followed by the boat exploding.

U.S. Southern Command said the boat, like five other large vessels it destroyed off Ecuador’s coast since Aug. 28, functioned as a “floating refueling station,” restocking the kind of fast boats that the U.S. military has attacked in lethal boat strikes that have killed more than 220 people since they began a year ago.

The Trump administration has claimed, without providing evidence, that the boats are carrying drugs. Experts in laws governing the lethal use of force say the strikes are illegal because the U.S. military is not permitted to target civilians who pose no threat of imminent violence, even if they are committing a crime.

The string of strikes on larger vessels comes alongside a resumption of strikes on smaller boats allegedly carrying drugs after a two-month lull. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to Ecuador on Wednesday as part of a three-country trip to South America, with security and military cooperation against drug-trafficking groups at the top of his agenda.

Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, who is expected to meet with Mr. Rubio, was the first leader in the region to enter into an agreement with the United States to allow joint military operations.