"Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ( Agencies + DIPLOMAT.SO) – The U.S. military has stopped flying drones from the southern Ethiopian town of Arba Minch, which they had used since 2011, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia said.
The two countries agreed that a U.S. presence in Arba Minch isn’t needed at the moment, the spokesman, David Kennedy, said in an e-mail on Saturday. Ethiopia borders Somalia, whose government is battling Al Qaeda aligned Islamic militants Al Shabaab with the support of the international community.
On October 30th, 2011, White House Spokesman Jay Carney confirmed that the U.S. military has unmanned drone aircraft in Ethiopia, but says no strike missions are being launched from the East African country.
Drones are often called the weapon of choice in President Barack Obama’s administration, which quadrupled drone strikes against al Qaida targets in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas, Yemen , Somalia and Libya.
The unmanned planes are controlled from military bases that can be as far away as the U.S. They can fly undetected at heights of up to 50,000 feet, far above that of ost manned aircraft.
Source: Diplomat
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