Al-Qaeda trying to counter drone campaign

KABUL): In an effort counter a major threat to its operatives, the Al-Qaeda network has tasked its engineers with exploring ways of shooting down, jamming and remotely hijacking US drones, a media report said on Wednesday.

The Washington Post, quoting top-secret US intelligence documents, said in its online edition Al-Qaeda teams of engineers were trying to make use of the technological vulnerabilities of a weapons system that had caused the network huge losses.

“Although there is no evidence that Al-Qaeda has forced a drone crash or interfered with flight operations, US intelligence officials have closely tracked the group’s persistent efforts to develop a counter-drone strategy since 2010,” the Post added.

A technological breakthrough could curtail the drone campaign that has left 3,000 people dead over the past decade, according to the daily, which claimed the attacks had forced ­Al-Qaeda leaders to curb their movements in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and other places.

The Washington Post said it had received the classified intelligence report from Edward Snowden, a fugitive ex-National Security Agency contractor. But American spy agencies believe Al-Qaeda face huge challenges in finding an effective way to attack drones.

PAN Monitor/mud

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