US strikes on 'Venezuela drug boats': are they legal?

Experts have suggested several attacks launched by the US may be illegal under international law.

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Announcing the first of these in September, President Donald Trump said his forces had destroyed a vessel that had departed from Venezuela. He said the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua cartel and was carrying drugs bound for the US.

Similar announcements have followed in recent weeks, accompanied with grainy footage but no evidence of the alleged drug trafficking and few details about who or what was on board each vessel.

Trump's officials say they are acting in self-defence by destroying boats carrying illicit drugs to the US but the strikes have attracted condemnation in the region.

In one case, the Colombian president said a boat hit by the US was not Venezuelan, but "Colombian with Colombian citizens inside" - which the White House denied.