ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. military has unarmed surveillance drones at a base in Ethiopia to take part in the fight against al-Qaida allies al-Shabaab, authorities confirmed.
The Washington Post reported this week that the U.S. military has deployed drones at a base in Ethiopia as part of the regional fight against al-Shabaab. Authorities confirmed to the BBC that the drone base is operational.
Ethiopian officials denied the presence of foreign military bases to the Post and U.S. State Department officials said this week Washington wasn't engaged militarily in Somalia, where Kenyan forces have launched a military offensive against al-Shabaab.
The Post article noted that Washington had built a series of "secret drone bases" across much of the Horn of Africa.
U.S. President Barack Obama has taken a more aggressive policy with drone strikes than did his predecessor George W. Bush. It was allegedly a drone attack that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a spiritual leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, in Yemen in October.
Al-Shabaab had pulled out of the Somali capital of Mogadishu to positions in the south of the country.
African Union Gen. Fred Mugisha told the BBC earlier this month that his troops, along with forces loyal to the transitional government, controlled nearly all of Mogadishu. A Ugandan spokesman for the peacekeeping mission said there were fringe sections of the city under al-Shabaab control but most of the key buildings in the capital were held by pro-government forces.
