US attacks on boats allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said today.

He called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to be the first condemnation of its kind from a UN body.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Mr Turk’s office, relayed his message today at a UN briefing, saying: “These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable.

“The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”

She said Mr Turk believed that “air strikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.”

US President Donald Trump has defended the attacks as a necessary escalation to curb the flow of drugs into his country.

On Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the latest strike against a boat allegedly carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

All four people aboard were killed.

It was the 14th strike since the campaign began in early September, bringing the death toll to at least 61.

Ms Shamdasani acknowledged the US justification of the strikes as part of an anti-drug and counterterrorism effort, but she said countries had long agreed that combating drug trafficking is a law-enforcement issue with “careful limits” on the use of lethal force.

Intentional use of such force is allowed only as a last resort against someone representing “an imminent threat to life,” she said.

“Otherwise, it would amount to a violation of the right of life and constitute extrajudicial killings.”

The strikes are taking place “outside the context” of armed conflict or active hostilities, Ms Shamdasani noted.