A Look At How A Secretive U.S. Special Ops Unit Used Drones To Decimate ISIS

Former head of U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command Brig. Gen. John Evans. (Photo via YouTube)

Yahoo News: The Army's killer drones: How a secretive special ops unit decimated ISIS

As the Islamic State’s physical caliphate shrinks to nothing after an almost five-year campaign led by U.S. special operations forces, military insiders say one small unit has killed more of the extremists than any other: the company of Gray Eagle drones in the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

Although the military has thrown a cloak of secrecy over its operations, the unit — officially called E (or “Echo”) Company of the regiment’s Second Battalion and established less than a decade ago — is increasingly being lauded in special operations and Army aviation circles.

“They are doing the most killing of anyone in the national mission force,” said a former 160th officer, referring to Joint Special Operations Command, which runs counterterrorism task forces in Afghanistan, and does battle against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and the Horn of Africa. “They’re out there doing the nation’s bidding in a ferocious way.”

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WNU Editor: Drones are revolutionizing how war is being fought, and this is just the beginning.

President Trump Revokes The Requirement That U.S. Intelligence Must Report Civilian Deaths

Fortune/Bloomberg: Trump Cancels U.S. Report on Civilian Deaths in Drone Strikes

President Donald Trump revoked a requirement that U.S. intelligence officials publicly report the number of people killed in drone strikes and other attacks on terrorist targets outside of war zones.

Trump ended the requirement with an executive order on Wednesday. A law Congress passed last year requires the Defense Department to provide Congress a report of civilian casualties, though parts of it may be classified.

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WNU Editor: This is a developing story.

The U.S. Air Campaign In Somalia Is Intensifying

Amanda Sperber, The Nation: Inside the Secretive US Air Campaign In Somalia

Since Trump took office, figuring out whom the US is killing and why has become nearly impossible.

Halimo Mohamed Abdi said the blast broke both her hips, left shrapnel embedded in her thigh, and caused terrible burns that cost her both breasts. Before she lost consciousness, she told me, she saw three boys—ages 9, 10, and 16—die in the explosion, which occurred at night in a field outside Bariire, a village 30 miles west of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. She also said the strike came from the sky and that afterward she had to be hospitalized for three months.

When Abdi was finally able to leave the ward, she found her house in ruins and 25 of her goats dead. Now she lives in Salama camp, one of the 996 squalid settlements lining the 20-mile road that runs from Afgooye to Mogadishu. The camps are filled with tens of thousands of Somalis who have fled American air strikes and the fighting between government militias and Al Shabab, the extremist group linked to Al Qaeda.

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WNU Editor:  And 2019 is shaping up for even more air strikes against Al Shabaab .... US has increased military intervention against al-Shabab (Al Jazeera).

U.S. Drone Strikes In Somalia Are On Track To Match Last Year's Record

Threat Matrix: US military on track to match record 2017 for airstrikes in Somalia

US forces killed three Shabaab terrorists in an airstrike on Monday. The strike occurred 40 km southwest of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, according to a US Forces Africa Command (AFRICOM) press release today.

The United States is on track to meet or exceed last year’s record number of strikes in Somalia. AFRICOM has conducted 21 strikes against Shabaab in Somalia so far this year, Maj. Karl J. Wiest confirmed to FDD’s Long War Journal on behalf of the Command’s Media Relations.

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WNU Editor: Al-Shabaab has proven to be a resilient foe.

The U.S. Has Conducted 550 Drone Strikes In Libya Since 2011

Nick Turse, Henrik Moltke, Alice Speri, The Intercept: Secret War

The U.S. Has Conducted 550 Drone Strikes in Libya Since 2011 — More Than in Somalia, Yemen, or Pakistan

The United States has conducted approximately 550 drone strikes in Libya since 2011, more than in Somalia, Yemen, or Pakistan, according to interviews and an analysis of open-source data by The Intercept.

The Intercept’s reporting indicates that Libya has been among the most heavily targeted nations in terms of American remotely piloted aircraft and radically revises the number of drone strikes carried out under the Obama administration, doubling some estimates.

During a four-month span in 2016, for example, there were approximately 300 drone strikes in Libya, according to U.S. officials. That’s seven times more than the 42 confirmed U.S. RPA attacks carried out in Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan combined for all of 2016, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a London-based nonprofit news organization. The Libya attacks have continued under the Trump administration, with the latest U.S. drone strike occurring last week about 50 miles southeast of the town of Bani Walid.

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WNU Editor: And the air and drone strikes continue .... U.S. says it killed four IS militants in Libya strike (Reuters).

US Drone Strike In Libya Kills Two Militant 'Leaders'

FOX News: Drone strike in Libya kills 2 'terrorists,' US Africa Command says

Two “terrorists” were killed on Saturday after the U.S. military launched a drone strike in Libya, a U.S. official told Fox News.

The U.S. Africa Command said in a statement that no civilians were killed in Saturday’s strike.

“In coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), U.S. forces conducted a precision airstrike near Ubari, Libya, on March 24, killing two terrorists,” the U.S. Africa Command said in a statement.

“The United States will not relent in its mission to degrade, disrupt, and destroy terrorist organizations and bring stability to the region. We are committed to maintaining pressure on the terror network and preventing terrorists from establishing safe haven,” the statement added.

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WNU Editor: I wonder if the drone responsible for this strike came from this neighboring base in Niger .... A New U.S. Drone Base In Niger (March 6, 2018).

More News On A US Drone Strike In Libya Killing Two Militant 'Leaders'

US says airstrike in Libya kills 2 militants -- AP
US air strike in Libya kills two militant ‘leaders’ -- Al Arabiya/AFP
US says killed two ‘terrorists’ in air strike in southern Libya -- Middle East Monitor
Pentagon says ‘coordinated’ airstrike kills 2 terrorists in Libyan desert -- RT

U.S. Drone Strike Kills Taliban Commander While He Was Taking A Shower

A map showing the location of Biland Khel, Pakistan. Google Maps

Daily Mail: A clean kill: Taliban commander is eliminated in a drone strike while taking a shower

* The militant - known by various names - was killed close to the Afghan border
* Pakistani police and Taliban sources have confirmed his death
* The dead commander is believed to have led Taliban fighters on multiple attacks on Afghan security forces and U.S. soldiers
* American drones have relentlessly targeted militants in the area where he died

A missile from a suspected U.S. drone killed an Afghan militant commander as he was having a shower in his village close to the Pakistani border with Afghanistan, Pakistani police and Taliban sources have said.

Nasir Mahmood - a member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network - was in a house in Pakistan's semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas when he died, senior police officer Ameer Zaman was quoted by NBC News as saying. He was also known as Ihsanullah and as Khowarai by his fighters.

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Update: Suspected U.S. drone kills Taliban-linked commander in shower (NBC)

WNU Editor: Pakistan is giving a different account on this drone strike .... U.S. and Pakistan give conflicting accounts of U.S. drone strike that killed militant leader (National Post). What's my take .... if the Americans can find this guy while he was taking a shower, I am sure the Pakistanis (if they had wanted to) would have also been able to find him.

U.S. Launches Drone Strikes Against The Haqqani Network In Pakistan

Reuters: Suspected U.S. drone targets Haqqani militants in Pakistan, killing four

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone strike on Thursday targeted a hideout of the Haqqani militant network along Pakistan’s mountainous border with Afghanistan, killing four people, officials said.

If confirmed, it would be the fourth such U.S. strike inside Pakistan since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials and a local government officer said an unmanned aerial vehicle dropped two missiles on a compound housing militants under the command of a senior network commander, Abdur Rasheed Haqqani.

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Update #1: Airstrike target Haqqani network compound in Kurram Agency of Pakistan (Khaama Press)
Update #2: Pakistan: US missiles kill 3 militants near Afghan border (National Post/AP)

WNU Editor: More indications that the U.S. is intensifying its war against the Taliban and its allies.

U.S. Drone Strikes Target The Islamic State In Yemen For The First Time. Dozens Reported Kill

Reuters: U.S. takes aim at Yemeni Islamic State for first time

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States said it launched its first attack on Islamic State’s deadly Yemen branch on Monday with a series of nighttime airstrikes that residents said targeted two villages and killed several people.

Unmanned U.S. drones launched around 12 missiles at militant positions in Yakla and al-Abl in southern al-Bayda province, according to local people living nearby, who declined to be named due to safety concerns.

They said the number of casualties caused by the attack was not immediately clear because locals were too afraid to approach the site as U.S. aircraft hovered over the area for hours.

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More News On U.S. Drone Strikes Targeting The Islamic State In Yemen For The First Time

US airstrikes killed 'dozens' of ISIS terrorists in Yemen, Pentagon says -- FOX News/AP
US kills ‘dozens’ of Islamic State members in Yemen -- Long War Journal
First US airstrike targeting ISIS in Yemen kills dozens -- CNN
Trump Targets ISIS In Yemen For First Time With Strikes on Training Camps -- Newsweek
US strikes kill 'dozens' at IS training camps -- Al-monitor/AFP
'Dozens of IS fighters killed' in Yemen strikes -- DW
Pentagon: Dozens of ISIS fighters killed in Yemen strikes -- The Hill
Dozens of ISIS fighters killed after US strikes Yemen camps -- ABC News
Pentagon Reports Destruction of 2 Daesh Training Camps in Yemen -- Sputnik International
12 US drone strikes attack Daesh in Yemen for first time -- Middle East Monitor

Two U.S. Drone Strikes Have Killed 31 On The Afghan Border With Pakistan

Reuters: Suspected U.S. drone strikes kill 31 on Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier

PARACHINAR/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two suspected U.S. drone strikes on Tuesday killed 11 people on the mountainous Pakistan-Afghanistan border, following a strike a day earlier that killed 20, government and militant sources said.

The attacks came days after a Canadian-American couple held hostage by the Taliban were freed from the area in Pakistan’s northwest, striking a rare positive note in the country’s often-fraught relations with the United States.

On Friday, U.S. drones were seen hovering near where American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed, after having been kidnapped by the Haqqani network while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012.

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WNU Editor: The Pakistani Foreign Minister is asking the U.S. to stop these drone strikes .... Pak FM asks US to stop airstrikes as drones target Haqqani network in Kurram Agency (Khaama Press). Other Pakistani agencies are saying that no drone strikes occurred .... No drone strikes took place in Kurram Agency: ISPR (GOE-TV). More denials here .... After day-long silence, ISPR says no US drone strikes in Kurram (Express Tribune). So .... was there a drone strike or two .... who knows.

More News On Today's Drone Strikes Targeting The Haqqani Network

Death toll from US drone strike in Pakistan rises to 26: officials -- AFP
Deadly US airstrikes target Haqqani network compound in Pakistan’s Kurram Agency -- Khaama Press
Suspected U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 20 Militants Near Pakistani-Afghan Border -- RFE
US drones kill 31 on Afghan border as Pakistan calls for restraint -- Pakistan Today
Militant Haqqani Network - a brief history -- DW

White House Wants To Broaden The CIA's Authority On Drone Strikes

A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits armed with Hellfire missiles and a 500-pound bomb in a hanger at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. Josh Smith/Reuters file

NBC: Trump Administration Wants to Increase CIA Drone Strikes

WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump visited CIA headquarters in the first weeks of his presidency, he toured the secure floor where agency officers direct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.

Impressed by what he saw, Trump conveyed to incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the assembled agency officers that he wanted them to take a more aggressive posture, according to two current U.S. officials and one former official briefed on the visit.

Soon afterward, multiple sources said, the CIA began carrying out drone strikes that might not have been authorized under the Obama administration, including in Syria, where the military has taken the lead on targeting militant leaders.

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Update: Trump looks to broaden CIA's authority on drone strikes: Report -- Washington Examiner

Previous Post: CIA Wants To Expand Its Authority To Use Drone Strikes In Afghanistan And Other War Zones Despite Pentagon Concerns (September 16, 2017).

WNU Editor: Aside from a few in Congress and the media .... including the Pentagon who have already voiced their opposition .... I strongly doubt that many will oppose the CIA being given more authority on drone strikes. Is this a good idea .... I am not sure. In the past when the CIA conducted targeted assassinations/killings .... the blow-back was always severe. Will it be different this time because drones are being used .... hmmmmm .... as I said .... I have my doubts.

CIA Wants To Expand Its Authority To Use Drone Strikes In Afghanistan And Other War Zones Despite Pentagon Concerns

Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, has made a case to President Trump that Obama-era restrictions on drone strikes needlessly limit the United States’ ability to fight terrorism. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times

New York Times: C.I.A. Wants Authority to Conduct Drone Strikes in Afghanistan for the First Time

WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. is pushing for expanded powers to carry out covert drone strikes in Afghanistan and other active war zones, a proposal that the White House appears to favor despite the misgivings of some at the Pentagon, according to current and former intelligence and military officials.

If approved by President Trump, it would mark the first time the C.I.A. has had such powers in Afghanistan, expanding beyond its existing authority to carry out covert strikes against Al Qaeda and other terrorist targets across the border in Pakistan.

The changes are being weighed as part of a broader push inside the Trump White House to loosen Obama-era restraints on how the C.I.A. and the military fight Islamist militants around the world. The Obama administration imposed the restrictions in part to limit civilian casualties, and the proposed shift has raised concerns among critics that the Trump administration would open the way for broader C.I.A. strikes in such countries as Libya, Somalia and Yemen, where the United States is fighting the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or both.

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More News On The CIA Wanting To Expand Its Authority To Use Drone Strikes In Afghanistan And Other War Zones

CIA pushing to expand authority to use drone strikes -- The Hill
CIA Pushes to Expand Drone Strike Authority Despite Pentagon Concerns - Reports -- Sputnik
CIA Wants Authority to Conduct Drone Strikes in Afghanistan -- Anti-war
The CIA Wants Permission to Kill Terrorists in Afghanistan with Drones, Which Could Endanger US Troops -- Newsweek

U.S. Court Throws Out Case Of Yemeni Man Killed In A U.S. Drone Strike, Judge Calls Congressional Oversight A Joke

© Khaled Abdullah / Reuters

The Hill: Judge in drone case: Congressional oversight of the military is 'a joke'

An appeals court on Friday upheld a decision to dismiss a lawsuit from a Yemeni man whose relatives were killed in a U.S. drone strike he alleges was unlawful.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed with a lower court that it does not have jurisdiction to judge military actions.

But the author of the court's decision, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, also wrote a concurring opinion in which she lamented that congressional oversight of the military is a “joke” and concluded that “our democracy is broken.”

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More News On The U.S. Courts Throwing Out The Case Of Yemeni Man Killed In A U.S. Drone Strike

US federal court tosses out lawsuit over Yemeni men killed in drone strike -- The Guardian
US judge: 'Democracy is broken' without drone oversight -- Al Jazeera
US court dismisses Yemen drone strike wrongful death suit -- RT
It’s Time To Open Substantive Discourse Over Judicial Oversight For Drone Strikes -- AsafLubin, Pavlovictory.com

Senior Al Qaeda Leader Killed By U.S. Air Strike In Afghanistan

Washington Post: U.S. airstrike kills al-Qaeda leader responsible for deaths of two Americans, Pentagon says

A U.S. airstrike this week in southeastern Afghanistan targeted an al-Qaeda leader connected to multiple terrorist attacks, including a hotel bombing in 2008 that killed two U.S. service members, the Pentagon said Saturday.

The March 19 strike, probably carried out by a drone, killed Qari Yasin in Afghanistan’s Paktika province.

“The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice,” said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in an emailed statement.

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More News On A Senior Al Qaeda Leader Killed By U.S. Air Strike In Afghanistan

US airstrike kills high-profile terrorist leader -- FOX News
Al-Qaida leader who plotted Marriott Hotel bombing confirmed killed in US air strike in Afghanistan -- AP
US air strike in Afghanistan killed senior Qaeda leader -- AFP
Pentagon: ‘High Profile’ al Qaeda Figure Killed in Afghanistan Strike -- NBC
Pentagon: US drone strike in Afghanistan killed a senior Al-Qaeda militant -- DW
Afghanistan: Senior al-Qaeda leader Qari Yasin killed in US drone strike -- International Business Times

President Trump Has Given The CIA The Authority To Launch Drone Strikes

U.S. airmen prepare a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone as it leaves on a mission at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. Picture taken March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Smith

Wall Street Journal: Trump Gave CIA Power to Launch Drone Strikes

New authority departs from Obama-era policy under which only the Pentagon conducted the operations

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said, changing the Obama administration’s policy of limiting the spy agency’s paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon.

The new authority, which hadn’t been previously disclosed, represents a significant departure from a cooperative approach that had become standard practice by the end of former President Barack Obama’s tenure: The CIA used drones and other intelligence resources to locate suspected terrorists and then the military conducted the actual strike. The U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in May 2016 in Pakistan was the best example of that hybrid approach, U.S. officials said.

The Obama administration put the military in charge of pulling the trigger to promote transparency and accountability. The CIA, which operates under covert authorities, wasn’t required to disclose the number of suspected terrorists or civilian bystanders it killed in drone strikes. The Pentagon, however, must publicly report most airstrikes.

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More News On President Trump Giving The CIA The Authority To Launch Drone Strikes

Trump gives CIA authority to conduct drone strikes: WSJ -- Reuters
Trump gives CIA power to launch drone strikes: report -- The Hill
Trump Administration Is Said to Be Working to Loosen Counterterrorism Rules -- New York Times
Trump administration reviewing ways to make it easier to launch drone strikes -- Washington Post
Trump Allows CIA Drone Strikes, Reversing Obama Policy: Report -- International Business Times
Trump is letting the CIA launch drone strikes -- Axios
President Trump secretly gave CIA authority to carry out drone strikes against suspected terrorists: report -- New York Daily News
Trump gave CIA power to authorize drone strikes – report -- RT
Trump Gives CIA Power to Use Drones to Bomb Suspected Terrorists -- Sputnik

President Trump’s Drone Strikes Are Outpacing President Obama's Drone Strikes

Women walk past a graffiti, denouncing strikes by U.S. drones in Yemen, painted on a wall in Sanaa, Yemen February 6, 2017 (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah).

Micah Zenko, Council on Foreign Policy: The (Not-So) Peaceful Transition of Power: Trump’s Drone Strikes Outpace Obama

As a candidate, President Donald Trump was deeply misleading about the sorts of military operations that he would support. He claimed to have opposed the 2003 Iraq War when he actually backed it, and to have opposed the 2011 Libya intervention when he actually strongly endorsed it, including with U.S. ground troops. Yet, Trump and his loyalists consistently implied that he would be less supportive of costly and bloody foreign wars, especially when compared to President Obama, and by extension, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This might be true, but nonetheless the White House is considering deploying even more U.S. troops to Syria, loosening the rules of engagement for airstrikes, and increasing the amount of lethal assistance provided to Syrian rebel groups.

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WNU Editor: Too early to say where this trend is going. The 20 drone strikes that were committed yesterday has blown up these numbers .... and these drone strikes appear to be a fall-out from last month's US Navy SEAL raid against Al Qaeda in Yemen .... a raid that was originally planned during President Obama's administration.

Is The U.S. Using A New Type Of Drone-Launched Weapon To Assassinate Terror Leaders?

The Drive: Was A New Type Of Drone-Launched Weapon Used To Kill Al Qaeda's #2 Man?

The images from the scene suggest an unfamiliar drone-launched weapon attacked Abu Khayr al-Masri's sedan with extreme precision and little collateral damage.

Al Qaeda's number two man, the deputy of Ayman al Zawahiri himself, Abu Khayr al Masri, was supposedly killed as the result of a drone strike while traveling in a Kia sedan near al-Mastouma, a town in Syria's Idlib province. What he was doing there remains unknown, though he is thought to have been active in Syria since his release from Iranian custody in 2015. There has not been a confirmation from the US that he was indeed killed, but pictures of the vehicle following the attack make one thing clear: this is a very different aftermath than what you'd see in a traditional drone strike.

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WNU Editor: For a drone strike .... the above video definitely shows a very different aftermath than what one usually sees in a traditional drone strike.

A Look At How Drone Intel Analysis Is Helping The U.S. Target Its Enemies

An MQ-1B Predator from the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron Detachment 1 sits on a ramp, Feb. 3, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Robert Cloys)

Military.com: Strike on ISIS Drone Cell Highlights Airman's Novel Intel Methods

It all started with a small tip of intelligence.

A U.S. airman in Virginia spotted a piece of intel thousands of miles away. Ten days later, warplanes bombed 11 sites in the Middle East where American military officials say Islamic State militants manufactured deadly drones.

The operation -- detailed for the first time by Air Force officials to Military.com -- underscores a growing trend in modern warfare in which troops at their home bases are intimately involved in wars half a world away. It also highlights a new way of analyzing intelligence to find, track and kill enemies and their weapons, they say.

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WNU Editor: Air Force Lt. Gen. VeraLinn "Dash" Jamieson sums it up best when it comes to how the U.S. targets the enemy .... "analysis is the foundation that's going to drive everything".

Will The U.S. Drone War In Pakistan Resume?

An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) sits in a shelter at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, after a mission on November 10, 2008. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the Reaper can carry up to 3,750 pounds of laser-guided bombs and missiles.

Peter Bergen and David Sterman, CNN: Will President Trump restart the drone war in Pakistan?

(CNN)The American drone war in Pakistan effectively ended nearly eight months ago when the US conducted its last drone strike, killing the Taliban's leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

After using CIA drones regularly for 7 years in Pakistan -- a country where the United States is not waging a traditional war, such as in Iraq -- the Obama administration has now presided over the longest cessation of strikes since President Obama took office, according to data collected by New America.

It is in Pakistan where the majority of CIA drone strikes have occurred under Obama, resulting in the death of a minimum of 1,904 people and perhaps as many as 3,114, according to New America's research.

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WNU Editor: If there is a high priority target spotted in Pakistan ..... like Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri .... I will not be surprised if a drone strike (or more) will be ordered. On a side note, it looks like the first drone strikes under the Trump administration have occurred .... Yemen reports first drone strike under Trump (The Hill). More here .... Three suspected al Qaeda members killed in drone strikes in Yemen: officials (Reuters).

U.S. Drone Pilots Defend Their Rules Of Engagement Over Afghanistan

A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits armed with Hellfire missiles and a 500-pound bomb in a hanger at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Smith/File Photo

Reuters: U.S. drone pilots defend tactics as Afghans question civilian toll

They are speaking about the same deadly drone war that the United States has been waging this year, but talk to the U.S. military and Afghan civilians and their conclusions about who is targeted are often starkly different.

To the Americans, only enemy combatants were killed by missiles fired from unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan in 2016. Eyewitness accounts, however, along with United Nations reports, suggest dozens of civilians were among the casualties.

"People seem to think we just shoot missiles at random," Lieutenant Shaw, a drone operator in his 20s told Reuters at the U.S. Air Force's base in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. "But if anything, we are better equipped than many manned aircraft to make sure we have the right guy."

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WNU editor: The U.S. military say one thing .... people on the ground are saying another .... Relations between US and UN strained over Afghanistan war reports (The Guardian).