NSA deeply involved in US drone strikes: report

Published October 17, 2013
The drone bombing campaign, President Barack Obama's primary tactic against Al Qaeda, has been portrayed as a purely CIA undertaking.  — File Photo
The drone bombing campaign, President Barack Obama's primary tactic against Al Qaeda, has been portrayed as a purely CIA undertaking. — File Photo
The report was based on documents provided by Edward Snowden. As with previous leaks from Snowden, the NSA did not deny the report but issued a statement saying its spying was focused on suspected terrorists and other threats to the United States. — Photo by AP
The report was based on documents provided by Edward Snowden. As with previous leaks from Snowden, the NSA did not deny the report but issued a statement saying its spying was focused on suspected terrorists and other threats to the United States. — Photo by AP

WASHINGTON: The National Security Agency is deeply involved in US drone strikes against Al Qaeda militants, using electronic surveillance tools to track down terror suspects, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The report was based on documents provided by Edward Snowden, the US intelligence contractor turned leaker who has exposed the massive scale of the NSA's eavesdropping efforts.

NSA cyber spying helped pinpoint a senior Al Qaeda figure, Hassan Ghul, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan's tribal belt in 2012, the Post wrote.

The operation was made possible in part by an email from Ghul's wife that was scooped up by the National Security Agency's vast surveillance dragnet, it said.

The United States has never publicly confirmed that it took out Ghul.

But documents passed to the Post by Snowden made clear he was killed by the US government last year.

Ghul was captured in 2004 and under questioning helped reveal Osama bin Laden's courier network, information that eventually led to the US commando raid that killed the Al Qaeda mastermind.

Ghul spent two years at a secret CIA prison and in 2006, the United States transferred him back to his native Pakistan, where he was released and returned to Al Qaeda.

To help the CIA locate Ghul and other terror suspects, the NSA placed “a surveillance blanket over dozens of square miles of northwest Pakistan” to uncover communications and the whereabouts of Al Qaeda militants, the newspaper said.

The email from Ghul's wife “about her current living conditions” included enough details to confirm the coordinates of their home, according to a document leaked by Snowden.

“This information enabled a capture/kill operation against an individual believed to be Hassan Ghul on October 1,” said the document quoted by the Post.

The newspaper said it was withholding numerous details about the “targeted killing” missions at the request of intelligence officials who were concerned about possible damage to operations and national security.

As with previous leaks from Snowden, the NSA did not deny the report but issued a statement saying its spying was focused on suspected terrorists and other threats to the United States.

“We're focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets, such as terrorists, human traffickers and drug smugglers,” NSA spokesperson Vanee Vines said.

“Our activities are directed against valid foreign intelligence targets in response to requirements from US leaders in order to protect the nation and its interests from threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

The drone bombing campaign, President Barack Obama's primary tactic against Al Qaeda, has been portrayed as a purely CIA undertaking.

But the Post report showed the country's eavesdropping agency has played a crucial role in providing “signals intelligence” to the CIA for the controversial drone strikes.

The NSA also created a clandestine unit known as the Counter-Terrorism Mission Aligned Cell, or CT MAC, to focus spying resources on elusive terror suspects.

Snowden, who has portrayed himself as a whistleblower, is wanted by US authorities on espionage charge but he has secured asylum in Russia.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.