Pakistan is probing alarming intelligence reports that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) stealth drones, which were used successfully by the United States to spy on al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, are still flying over Quetta, Peshawar and some other Pakistani cities to locate other al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.
US officials revealed in the aftermath of bin Laden’s killing on May 2 in Abbottabad that the CIA spied on the al Qaeda chief’s compound in the garrison city with the help of a new bat-winged stealth drone “RQ-170 Sentinel”, which is otherwise known as the “Beast of Kandahar”, so named because it was first spotted on a runway in Afghanistan.
However, the CIA did not stop using these drones then and there but continued with the flights of stealth spy planes over Pakistani cities, where it suspects that some other al Qaeda and Taliban leaders could have taken refuge.
IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH: “It’s almost impossible to locate the new generation of these drones with the help of radar systems but intelligence reports from across the Afghan border strongly suggest that the US is still using them to locate other terror leaders such as the new al Qaeda chief Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri and supreme commander of the Taliban Mullah Omar in cities such as Quetta, Peshawar and some other towns along with the tribal areas,” said a Pakistani diplomat who asked not to be identified by name.
He said these reports were being counter-checked and verified and if proven, the matter would be taken up with the US authorities with a demand to halt the flights of stealth drones, coupled with a strong protest. The CIA recently killed one of the most wanted al Qaeda-linked militants, Ilyas Kashmiri, in a drone attack in South Waziristan. It was a part of an aggressive drone attack campaign that the US officials claim has helped paralyse al Qaeda in the tribal regions.
“It is also suspected that Kashmiri was located with the help of stealth drones before being taken out with a strike by an armed drone. The CIA most likely kept any eye on his movements from one tribal area to another,” the diplomat said. The recent surge in drone strikes has become a serious issue between Islamabad and Washington and the former has conveyed in clear and plain terms to US authorities to stop these assaults as soon as possible. It was three months ago that the CIA reportedly suspended the use of Shamsi Airbase in Balochistan as a launch site for drones targeting suspected al Qaeda-linked militants and other terrorists after strong demands were made by Pakistan to abandon the base.
A Pakistani security official said that instead of stopping the drone strikes, the CIA was now using the Afghan soil to carry them out in Pakistani tribal areas. “This is no solution to such a serious issue and we want [the Americans] to halt these attacks altogether,” he said.
