The Colombian government has asked the United States to stop attacking vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean as part of an operation that Washington says is targeting drug smuggling.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced strikes on two alleged drug-running boats in the Pacific that left five people dead.

The first strike took place on Tuesday, with two people killed. A defense official confirmed the vessel was in international waters off Colombia. A second strike took place on Wednesday, according to Hegseth, killing three more.

The strikes bring the total number of such U.S. attacks to at least nine, with 37 people dead, according to U.S. figures.

"Colombia calls on the U.S. government to cease these attacks and urges it to respect the norms dictated by international law," the foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday night.

The government of Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has been embroiled in a war of words with President Trump, "rejects the destruction by the United States of a vessel allegedly related to drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean," the statement added.

Mr. Trump and Petro exchanged angry threats on Wednesday.

Mr. Trump branded Petro a "thug" and suggested he was a drug trafficker leading his country to ruin, prompting Petro to vow: "I will defend myself legally with American lawyers."

The U.S. president also said military aid to Bogotá had been cut and warned Petro to "watch it," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Colombian leader a "lunatic."

In an interview Thursday with CBS News national correspondent Lilia Luciano, Petro said he believes that the White House needs to focus on the leaders of drug cartels, not suspected lower-level traffickers.

"Killing the workers of the business is easy, but if you want efficiency, you have to capture the bosses of the business," Petro told CBS News.

Last month, Washington announced it had decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs. Colombia hit back by halting arms purchases from the United States, its biggest military partner.

In the statement, Colombia reiterated "its call on the U.S. government to engage in dialogue through diplomatic channels" to "continue jointly the fight against drugs in the region" as they had been doing for decades.

Among the dozens of people killed in the boat strikes was Colombian Alejandro Carranza.

His family is questioning White House claims that he was carrying narcotics aboard a small vessel targeted last month.

His wife, Katerine Hernandez, told AFP that her 40-year-old husband was "a good man" who was on a fishing trip when he was killed.

"Why did they just take his life like that?" she said. "The fishermen have the right to live. Why didn't they just detain them?"

Drug trafficking vessels, including "narco subs," are routinely intercepted by the Colombian navy. If drugs are seized, the people on board are detained and referred for prosecution.

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