WASHINGTON, Sept 18: The US government is analysing the results of strikes against enemy targets to learn how the groups respond when attacked, the CIA’s director said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Air Force Association’s annual conference, Michael Hayden said US forces were trying to ‘tickle’ enemy groups to provoke a reaction.

“We use military operations to excite the enemy, prompting him to respond. In that response we learn so much,” said Hayden, a retired Air Force general who has led the CIA since 2006.

CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield later said Hayden was not referring to clandestine activities.

Hayden said the CIA was working closely with the military in places such as Iraq’s Anbar province, where American troops had fought Sunni militants. That experience helped CIA officers develop a strategy to engage Sunni tribal leaders, which Hayden said had contributed to a recent drop in violence in Iraq.

The agency “picked up insights we would not have had” by working with American forces, he said.—AP