US uses drones to target al-Qaeda in the Horn of Africa

BBC
Frank Gardner

Quietly, with as little fanfare as possible, the US is trying to confront the twin challenges of terrorism and piracy in and around the Horn of Africa.

Amongst other means, the Americans are increasing using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), known as drones.

It is a controversial policy - the CIA is most worried by Somalia and Yemen, so it is no coincidence they are coming under the most surveillance from the air.

Those nations are also experiencing a rising number of unpopular missile strikes by armed MQ-9 Reaper drones, successor to the earlier Predators.

Crippling al-Qaeda
 
Counter-terrorism officials say that in failed or failing states, the drones are a precision-guided weapon to target al-Qaeda operatives, where the host country will not allow the US to put forces on the ground.
They point to Pakistan's Tribal Territories, which border Afghanistan, where President Barack Obama's administration has ordered a massive increase in drone strikes.

These have resulted in the crippling of much of al-Qaeda's fugitive leadership, but also in large numbers of civilian casualties.

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