Report: CIA seeks to expand drone campaign in Yemen

The CIA wants the authority to expand its covert drone campaign in Yemen to strike terrorist suspects even when it doesn’t know their identities, The Washington Post reported.

The CIA wants permission to go after targets based on intelligence showing patterns of suspicious behavior, according to the Post, such as insurgents gathering at known al Qaeda locations or unloading explosives.

These “signature strikes” have been in place in Pakistan for several years, and now CIA Director David Petraeus wants to use them in Yemen as well, likely increasing an already record number of strikes there. The Post reported there have been at least eight drone strikes in Yemen this year.

Drone strikes have been used frequently by the Obama administration, like the attack last year that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, as well as his son, both of whom were U.S. citizens.

The CIA’s request has been submitted to the National Security Council, and no decision has been made, according to the Post.

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