US builds drone bases in Mid East and Africa

THE US is building a ring of secret drone bases in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of an aggressive campaign against al-Qaida affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

One base for the unmanned aircraft is being established in Ethiopia and another base has been installed in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

A small fleet of “hunter- killer” drones resumed operations in the islands this month after an experimental mission demonstrated the unmanned drones could effectively patrol Somalia from there.

The US military has also flown drones over Somalia and Yemen from bases in the African nation of Djibouti and the CIA is building a secret airstrip in the Arabian Peninsula to deploy drones over Yemen, the report said.

The White House declined to comment.

The US and Seychellois officials have previously acknowledged the drones’ presence in the island but said their primary mission was to track pirates.

But classified US diplomatic cables show that the unmanned aircraft also conducted counter-terrorism missions over Somalia, 800 miles to the north-west.

The newspaper said the cables, obtained by WikiLeaks, reveal US officials asked leaders in the Seychelles to keep the counter-terrorism missions secret.

Meanwhile, Yemeni government forces yesterday fired mortars at tens of thousands of mourners at funerals held for protesters killed in clashes, shattering a ceasefire negotiated a day earlier. The shelling killed three people and wounded at least 16.

The mourners were gathered for funeral prayers in Sanaa for anti-government protesters killed in a deadly, three-day government crackdown in which the death toll topped 80 — a spike in violence as protesters grow impatient with president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Also in Sanaa, the headquarters of the renegade 1st Armoured Division came under heavy shelling from government forces.

The officials said the shelling targeted a part of Change Square where protesters have camped out since February to demand the ouster of Saleh, in power since 1978.