Report: US Expands Anti-Terrorism Operations in Djibouti
Posted October 29th, 2012 at 10:10 am (UTC-4)
A Washington newspaper reports the United States has sharply escalated its
counter-terrorism operations at a military base in the East African nation
of Djibouti.
The Washington Post says unmanned drones on missions over Somalia and Yemen
take off or land at the base an average of 16 times per day.
It says about 300 personnel plan raids and coordinate the flights from
inside a high-security compound at the base, Camp Lemmonier.
The U.S. was previously known to operate drones from airports in Ethiopia
and the Seychelles islands, in addition to Djibouti.
But, the Post says those operations pale compared to the one at Camp
Lemmonier. The paper calls Lemmonier the centerpiece of an expanding U.S.
network of drone and surveillance bases in Africa, created to combat
terrorist groups across the continent.
The U.S. has used drones to attack targets associated with al-Qaida in Yemen
and the militant group al-Shabab in Somalia, in addition to terrorist
suspects in several other countries.
The Post says it based its report on unclassified military records it
obtained, including construction blueprints, drone accident reports and
internal planning memos.
It says the Defense Department is planning to spend $1.4 billion to expand
its facilities at the Djibouti base.
The paper says the base has also become home to a squadron of F-15 fighter
jets. It says two former U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said the jets are flying combat missions over Yemen in the war
against al-Qaida.
The Post says the U.S. military's Africa Command confirmed the warplanes'
presence but declined to answer questions about their mission.
