CIA seeks expansion of drone fleet: Report

Officials reveal once proposal is approved, CIA could add as many as 10 drones to inventory ranging between 30 and 35.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is seeking an approval for the expansion of the fleet of drones from the White House, a move that would extend the intelligent agency’s decade-long transformation into a paramilitary force, The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying.

US officials said that CIA Director David H Petraeus moved the proposal to strengthen the spy service’s campaign of launching strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. The CIA might further its drone campaign towards budding al Qaeda threats in North Africa or other trouble spots, if directed.

The officials revealed that once the proposal is approved, the CIA could add as many as 10 drones to an inventory that has ranged between 30 and 35 over the past few years.

However, officials from the White House, the CIA and the Pentagon declined to comment on the proposal. The officials, who revealed the details of this development, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Washington has been pushing Islamabad for years to carry out a military offensive in the area against the Haqqanis, who have launched some of the most audacious attacks on the US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Despite Islamabad’s repeated protests, the Obama Administration is not willing to halt the CIA drone campaign in the tribal areas — notwithstanding Islamabad’s offer of a new mechanism suggesting use of drones only for surveillance.