LONDON, Jan 29: The drones used by the US to kill innocent women and children in the failed attempt to target Al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman Al-Zahawiri in Bajaur were using technology supplied by a British company, British newspaper, The Observer, reported here on Sunday.

According to the report, a British technology company and a secretive airforce base in Cambridgeshire were playing a key role in the CIA’s use of robot Predator planes, deployed to assassinate suspected terrorists overseas.

The Observer said it had discovered that the computer ‘brains’ of the unmanned Predators were made in Towcester, Northamptonshire, by Radstone Technology. The firm manufactures the computer boards that control the drones and enable the CIA to target top Al-Qaeda suspects. Predators are controlled remotely by satellite and a joystick. When a target is identified, the Predators fire a Hellfire missile.