CIA operating secret drone base in Saudi Arabia: Report

Reports surface that the CIA has been operating a secret airbase to carry out drone strikes against al Qaeda members.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been operating a clandestine airbase for unmanned drones in Saudi Arabia for the past two years, the BBC reported.

The base was established for the purpose of hunting down al Qaeda members in the Arabian Peninsula.

A drone took flight from this facility in September 2011 to kill Anwar al Awlaki, a US-born Muslim cleric who was suspected to be the al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) external operations head.

The BBC further asserted that the American media have been aware of its existence since then, but have not reported on it.

Senior US government officials had stated that they were concerned that the disclosure of the secret facility would undercut operations against AQAP and potentially damage collaboration efforts with Saudi Arabia in the ‘War Against Terrorism’.