Washington DC - The US military said it killed five people aboard two vessels in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, taking the overall death toll in a campaign blasted as illegal to more than 100 people.

Providing no evidence that the targets were involved in drug trafficking, Southern Command said three people were killed in the first boat and two in the second.

Since the start of the campaign, the strikes have now killed 104 people, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

Even if the victims had been transporting illegal drugs, their summary execution via strikes would still be unlawful, according to numerous experts and international bodies. Calls for a criminal investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are also growing after the killing of two survivors of an initial attack sparked widespread shock and outrage.

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Thursday's operation came the same day Trump claimed he did not need lawmakers's approval to strike suspected drug cartels on land in Venezuela.

"I wouldn't mind telling them, but you know, it's not a big deal. I don't have to tell them," he said in the Oval Office.

Democratic lawmakers have maintained that the Trump administration needs congressional authorization to use the military for an attack on another country.

The House of Representatives rejected two Democratic resolutions on Wednesday aimed at halting the strikes and "hostilities in or against Venezuela" without its authorization.

Hostilities have continued unabated meanwhile, with Trump on Tuesday ordering a blockade of "sanctioned oil vessels" to and from Venezuela, a move some Democrats called an "act of war."

The Republican has barely disguised his desire to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, while also eyeing the Latin American state's natural resources.