U.N. human rights chief says U.S. "must halt" strikes on alleged drug boats to prevent "extrajudicial killing"

Geneva — The United Nations human rights chief said Friday that U.S. military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are "unacceptable" and must stop.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to mark the first such condemnation of its kind from a U.N. organization.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Türk's office, relayed his message on Friday at a regular U.N. briefing: "These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable. The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats."

She said Türk believed "airstrikes by the United States of Amer