| Somali Jihad threatening to cross the border into Kenya "A major foreign policy development is challenging the new US administration; ironically from a region where Obama has strong familial, political and ethnic ties.. More |
| Somali militant group claims bombing of Ethiopians "This is a message to the Puntland authority which had extended a welcome and showed affection to the long-time enemy Ethiopians," the Web site, informing Muslim society to keep away from the infidels of Ethiopia whether they are in military dress or not.. More |
| All rights reserved. |
| Ethio Quest News Together We Can Make It! |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Ethio Quest News: For latest Ethiopian News, views, Reviews and More |
| Casualties of a civilizational war "..Ever since Samuel Huntington came out with his seminal “Clash of Civilizations" essay, Western liberal intellectuals have strenuously sought to disprove the theory that Islamic and non-Islamic societies were upon a collision course...... More |
| Kenya remembers bombing " The world must solve crises in the Middle East and Somalia or they will spawn more of the extremism that led to bombings of U.S. embassies...More |
| Previous Stories Profitters of terrorism other than those labeled "terrorists" By Kiflu Hussain Shabab Bombings May Be A Sign of Weakness By Kevin Peraino (Newsweek) Uganda releases photos of Kampala bombers CNN Ethiopians, Eritreans Face Double Suspicion in Post-Bomb Uganda By Peter Heinlein Obama: Uganda Bombings Indicate Vision of 'Destruction and Death' VOA 'Suicide belt' found after Uganda blasts (BBC) At least 60 killed in Uganda twin bombings Faith Karimi (CNN) |
| Related Stories U.S. building secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say CBS News Architect of blasts at US embassies killed in Somalia (Boston Globe) Osama Bin Laden Dead: Does It Matter? Huffington Post Osama bin Laden: A timeline of terror News.com Alert on border as Somali terror cell clashes with Ethiopia troops By FRED MUKINDA Somali militants display bodies of 5 dead peacekeepers, hold Burundian soldier captive By Abdi Guled (CP) Somali soccer player mourned after suicide bombing Washington Post |
U.S. drone base in Ethiopia is operational
28 October, 2011 | By Craig Whitlock (Washington Post)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Air Force has invested millions of dollars to upgrade an airfield
in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, where it has built a small annex to house a
fleet of drones that can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and
satellite-guided bombs. The Reapers began flying missions earlier
this year over neighboring Somalia, where the United States and its
allies in the region have been targeting al-Shabab, a militant Islamist
group connected to al-Qaeda.
Mindful of the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle in which two U.
S. military
helicopters were shot down in the Somali capital of Mogadishu and
18 Americans killed, the Obama administration has sought to avoid
deploying troops to the country.
As a result, the United States has relied on lethal drone attacks, a
burgeoning CIA presence in Mogadishu and small-scale missions
carried out by U.S. Special Forces. In addition, the United States
has increased its funding for and training of African peacekeeping
forces in Somalia that fight al-Shabab.
The Washington Post reported last month that the Obama
administration is building a constellation of secret drone bases in the
Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, including one site in
Ethiopia. The location of the Ethiopian base and the fact that it
became operational this year, however, have not been previously
disclosed. Some bases in the region also have been used to carry
out operations against the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.
welcomes our cooperation on these varied security programs.”
Last month, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry denied the presence of U.
S. drones in the country. On Thursday, a spokesman for the Ethio
pian embassy in Washington repeated that assertion.
“That’s the government’s position,” said Tesfaye Yilma, the head of
public diplomacy for the embassy. “We don’t entertain foreign
military bases in Ethiopia.”
But U.S. military personnel and contractors have become
increasingly visible in recent months in Arba Minch, a city of about
70,000 people in southern Ethiopia. Arba Minch means “40
springs” in Amharic, the national language.
Travelers who have passed through the Arba Minch airport on the
occasional civilian flights that land there said the U.S. military has
erected a small compound on the tarmac, next to the terminal.
The compound is about half an acre in size and is surrounded by
high fences, security screens and lights on extended poles. The U.S.
military personnel and contractors eat at a cafe in the passenger
terminal, where they are served American-style food, according to
travelers who have been there.
Arba Minch is located about 300 miles south of Addis Ababa and
about 600 miles east of the Somali border. Standard models of the
Reaper have a range of about 1,150 miles, according to the Air
Force.
The MQ-9 Reaper, known as a “hunter killer,” is manufactured by
General Atomics and is an advanced version of the Predator, the
most common armed drone in the Air Force’s fleet.
Ethiopia is a longtime U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the
militant group that has fomented instability in war-torn Somalia and
launched attacks in Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere in the region.
The Ethiopian military invaded Somalia in 2006 in an attempt to
wipe out a related Islamist movement that was taking over the
country, but withdrew three years later after it was unable to contain
an insurgency.
The U.S. military clandestinely aided Ethiopia during that invasion by
sharing intelligence and carrying out airstrikes with AC-130
gunships, which operated from an Ethiopian military base in the
eastern part of the country. After details of the U.S. involvement
became public, however, the Ethiopian government shut down the U.
S. military presence there.
In a present-day operation that carries echoes of that campaign,
Kenya launched its own invasion of southern Somalia this month to
chase after al-Shabab fighters that it blames for kidnapping Western
tourists in Kenya and destabilizing the border region.
Although U.S. officials denied playing a role in that offensive, a
Kenyan military spokesman, Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, said Kenya
has received “technical assistance” from its American allies. He
declined to elaborate.
The U.S. military deploys drones on attack and surveillance missions
over Somalia from a number of bases in the region.
The Air Force operates a small fleet of Reapers from the Seychelles,
a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about 800 miles from the
Somali coast.
The U.S. military also operates drones — both armed versions and
models used strictly for surveillance — from Djibouti, a tiny African
nation that abuts northwest Somalia at the junction of the Red Sea
and the Gulf of Aden. About 3,000 U.S. military personnel are
stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the only permanent U.S.
base on the African continent.
The U.S. government is known to have used drones to mount lethal
attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan,
Somalia and Yemen.
Courtesy
28 October, 2011 | By Craig Whitlock (Washington Post)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The Air Force has been
secretly flying armed Reaper
drones on counterterrorism
missions from a remote
civilian airport in southern
Ethiopia as part of a rapidly
expanding U.S.-led proxy
war against an al-Qaeda
affiliate in East Africa, U.S.
military officials said.
The Air Force has invested millions of dollars to upgrade an airfield
in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, where it has built a small annex to house a
fleet of drones that can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and
satellite-guided bombs. The Reapers began flying missions earlier
this year over neighboring Somalia, where the United States and its
allies in the region have been targeting al-Shabab, a militant Islamist
group connected to al-Qaeda.
Mindful of the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle in which two U.
S. military
helicopters were shot down in the Somali capital of Mogadishu and
18 Americans killed, the Obama administration has sought to avoid
deploying troops to the country.
As a result, the United States has relied on lethal drone attacks, a
burgeoning CIA presence in Mogadishu and small-scale missions
carried out by U.S. Special Forces. In addition, the United States
has increased its funding for and training of African peacekeeping
forces in Somalia that fight al-Shabab.
The Washington Post reported last month that the Obama
administration is building a constellation of secret drone bases in the
Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, including one site in
Ethiopia. The location of the Ethiopian base and the fact that it
became operational this year, however, have not been previously
disclosed. Some bases in the region also have been used to carry
out operations against the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.
- The Air Force confirmed
Thursday that drone
operations are underway at
the Arba Minch airport.
Master Sgt. James Fisher, a
spokesman for the 17th Air
Force, which oversees
operations in Africa, said
that an unspecified number
of Air Force personnel are
working at the Ethiopian
airfield “to provide
operation and technical
support for our security
assistance programs.”
- The Arba Minch airport
expansion is still in progress
but the Air Force deployed
the Reapers there earlier this
year, Fisher said. He said
welcomes our cooperation on these varied security programs.”
Last month, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry denied the presence of U.
S. drones in the country. On Thursday, a spokesman for the Ethio
pian embassy in Washington repeated that assertion.
“That’s the government’s position,” said Tesfaye Yilma, the head of
public diplomacy for the embassy. “We don’t entertain foreign
military bases in Ethiopia.”
But U.S. military personnel and contractors have become
increasingly visible in recent months in Arba Minch, a city of about
70,000 people in southern Ethiopia. Arba Minch means “40
springs” in Amharic, the national language.
Travelers who have passed through the Arba Minch airport on the
occasional civilian flights that land there said the U.S. military has
erected a small compound on the tarmac, next to the terminal.
The compound is about half an acre in size and is surrounded by
high fences, security screens and lights on extended poles. The U.S.
military personnel and contractors eat at a cafe in the passenger
terminal, where they are served American-style food, according to
travelers who have been there.
Arba Minch is located about 300 miles south of Addis Ababa and
about 600 miles east of the Somali border. Standard models of the
Reaper have a range of about 1,150 miles, according to the Air
Force.
The MQ-9 Reaper, known as a “hunter killer,” is manufactured by
General Atomics and is an advanced version of the Predator, the
most common armed drone in the Air Force’s fleet.
Ethiopia is a longtime U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the
militant group that has fomented instability in war-torn Somalia and
launched attacks in Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere in the region.
The Ethiopian military invaded Somalia in 2006 in an attempt to
wipe out a related Islamist movement that was taking over the
country, but withdrew three years later after it was unable to contain
an insurgency.
The U.S. military clandestinely aided Ethiopia during that invasion by
sharing intelligence and carrying out airstrikes with AC-130
gunships, which operated from an Ethiopian military base in the
eastern part of the country. After details of the U.S. involvement
became public, however, the Ethiopian government shut down the U.
S. military presence there.
In a present-day operation that carries echoes of that campaign,
Kenya launched its own invasion of southern Somalia this month to
chase after al-Shabab fighters that it blames for kidnapping Western
tourists in Kenya and destabilizing the border region.
Although U.S. officials denied playing a role in that offensive, a
Kenyan military spokesman, Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, said Kenya
has received “technical assistance” from its American allies. He
declined to elaborate.
The U.S. military deploys drones on attack and surveillance missions
over Somalia from a number of bases in the region.
The Air Force operates a small fleet of Reapers from the Seychelles,
a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about 800 miles from the
Somali coast.
The U.S. military also operates drones — both armed versions and
models used strictly for surveillance — from Djibouti, a tiny African
nation that abuts northwest Somalia at the junction of the Red Sea
and the Gulf of Aden. About 3,000 U.S. military personnel are
stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the only permanent U.S.
base on the African continent.
The U.S. government is known to have used drones to mount lethal
attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan,
Somalia and Yemen.
Courtesy
| Defence Department The MQ-9 Reaper drone |