U.S. strikes on Venezuela in international waters mark a dangerous escalation and constitute “extrajudicial executions,” a group of independent UN experts said on Tuesday.

In recent months, U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered strikes on at least six suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean, killing at least 27 people.

The strikes are part of Trump’s ongoing campaign against what he says is a “narcoterrorist” threat emanating from Venezuela and linked to its president, Nicolas Maduro .

The U.N. experts acknowledged Trump’s justification for the military action, but said: “Even if such allegations were substantiated, the use of lethal force in international waters without a proper legal basis violates the international law of the sea and amounts to extrajudicial executions.”

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