SIERRA VISTA, AZ - MARCH 07: Maintenence personel check a Predator drone operated by U.S. Office of Air and Marine (OAM), before its surveillance flight near the Mexican border on March 7, 2013 from Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The OAM, which is part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, flies the unmanned - and unarmed - MQ-9 Predator B aircraft an average of 12 hours per day at around 19,000 feet over southern Arizona. The drones, piloted from the ground, search for drug smugglers and immigrants crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. Due to federal sequestration cuts, Customs and Border Protection is expected to lose $500 million from its budget, and OAM staff at Ft. Huachuca are now taking unpaid furlough days once every two weeks. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
The United States military is seeking powers to carry out covert drone strikes in Kenya, a far-reaching proposal that would for the first time hand Washington military leeway to directly conduct counterterrorism combat operations within the Kenyan territory.
A report by the New York Times published on Tuesday quoted senior officials saying the US military’s Africa Command is pressing for new authorities to carry out armed drone strikes targeting Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab fighters in portions of eastern Kenya…
