(MENAFN) Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the United States of killing an innocent fisherman during a strike that President Donald Trump described as targeting a drug-smuggling vessel.

Since September, the US military has destroyed multiple boats in the Caribbean as part of efforts to eliminate “narcoterrorists” trafficking cocaine and fentanyl. Petro said a Colombian “lifelong fisherman” was killed during the operation on September 16.

“US government officials have committed murder and violated our sovereignty in our territorial waters. Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to drug traffickers and his daily activity was fishing,” Petro wrote on X on Saturday. He added that the vessel had drifted due to engine failure and had sent a distress signal. “We are waiting for an explanation from the US government,” he stated.

Petro has a longstanding dispute with Trump, whom he previously accused of violating human rights during crackdowns on illegal immigrants. Last month, the US revoked Petro’s visa after he urged US soldiers to disregard Trump’s orders.

Trump responded by noting that the Colombian and Ecuadorian nationals retrieved from the “drug-carrying submarine” would be deported to their home countries “for detention and prosecution.” He also confirmed that the US destroyed the vessel, resulting in the deaths of two of the four “known narcoterrorists” aboard.

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