Jack Serle

US And Others Have ‘Licence To Ignore International Law’ In Somalia

The Somali government has given free rein to international forces including the US and African Union to act with impunity in the country, a number of sources have told the Bureau. During the country’s two decades of conflict, its frail government invited numerous outside forces in to help fight threats such as the al Shabaab […]

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
Somali soldiers stand by the body of a hotel worker, left, who died following two explosions which occurred near the gate of the temporary home of Somalia's new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, in Mogadishu, Somalia, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

The Somali government has given free rein to international forces including the US and African Union to act with impunity in the country, a number of sources have told the Bureau. During the country’s two decades of conflict, its frail government invited numerous outside forces in to help fight threats such as the al Shabaab Islamic militant

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Judges Greet US Government Drone Secrecy With Skepticism

Three federal appeal court judges greeted US government efforts to block the release of information on the CIA’s targeted killings programme with skepticism on Thursday, as they grilled the administration’s lawyers for double the scheduled time. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is challenging the Obama administration to reveal records of the CIA’s drone programme, including […]

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
Revelations show that President Obama gives personal oversight to drone strikes which have killed thousands. (Photo by l'ennui d'ennui via Flikr)

Three federal appeal court judges greeted US government efforts to block the release of information on the CIA’s targeted killings programme with skepticism on Thursday, as they grilled the administration’s lawyers for double the scheduled time. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is challenging the Obama administration to reveal records

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July 2012 update – US Covert Actions In Pakistan, Yemen And Somalia

By Chris Woods and Jack Serle The Bureau’s covert war investigation tracks drone strikes and other US military and paramilitary actions in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Here we summarise our key work and findings for July 2012. Pakistan: CIA drones kill more people in July than any month so far this year after Pakistanreopens its border […]

Chris Woods
Jack Serle
By Chris Woods
And Jack Serle
In this Jan. 31, 2010 file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

By Chris Woods and Jack Serle The Bureau’s covert war investigation tracks drone strikes and other US military and paramilitary actions in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Here we summarise our key work and findings for July 2012. Pakistan: CIA drones kill more people in July than any month so far this year after Pakistanreopens its border to Nato

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June Update – US Covert Actions In Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia

The Bureau’s covert war investigation tracks drone strikes and other US military and paramilitary actions in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Here we summarise our key work and findings for June 2012. We also compare the first six months of this year with 2011. An analysis of our data over this period reveals: As relations between […]

Chris Woods
Jack Serle
By Chris Woods
And Jack Serle
An armed US military Reaper drone over Afghanistan. (US Air Force/ Lt Col Lesley Pratt/ Flickr)

The Bureau’s covert war investigation tracks drone strikes and other US military and paramilitary actions in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Here we summarise our key work and findings for June 2012. We also compare the first six months of this year with 2011. An analysis of our data over this period reveals: As relations between Washington and

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UN Expert Labels CIA Tactic Exposed By Bureau ‘A War Crime’

The UN’s expert on extrajudicial killings has described a tactic used by the CIA and first exposed by a Bureau investigation as ‘a war crime’. Earlier this year the Bureau and the Sunday Times revealed the CIA was deliberately targeting rescuers and funeral-goers in its Pakistan drone strikes. Those controversial tactics have reportedly been revived. Christof Heyns, the UN special […]

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
The United Nation'€™s Human Rights Council in Geneva (UNHRC/ Flickr)

The UN’s expert on extrajudicial killings has described a tactic used by the CIA and first exposed by a Bureau investigation as ‘a war crime’. Earlier this year the Bureau and the Sunday Times revealed the CIA was deliberately targeting rescuers and funeral-goers in its Pakistan drone strikes. Those controversial tactics have reportedly been

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Drone Revelations Raise Profile Of Bureau Data

Revelatory reports in Newsweek and the New York Times detailing targeted killings by the United States have pushed drone strikes to the top of the news agenda. Published at the end of May, the articles have whipped up fierce interest in the US covert war on terror. They revealed how people are added to a […]

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
In this June 13, 2010, file photo a U.S. Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, Pool, File)

Revelatory reports in Newsweek and the New York Times detailing targeted killings by the United States have pushed drone strikes to the top of the news agenda. Published at the end of May, the articles have whipped up fierce interest in the US covert war on terror. They revealed how people are added to a so-called ‘kill list’ and it emerged that

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How Twitter Mapped A ‘Covert’ US Drone Operation In Yemen

Story by Chris Woods and Jack Serle. Though the hour was late, Yemen’s social media was still very much awake. A US drone’s missiles had just slammed into a convoy of vehicles in a remote part of Yemen, killing three alleged militants. The attack – like all other US drone strikes outside warzones – was […]

Chris Woods
Jack Serle
By Chris Woods
And Jack Serle
The local press was quickly at the scene but Twitter broke the story first.

Story by Chris Woods and Jack Serle. Though the hour was late, Yemen’s social media was still very much awake. A US drone’s missiles had just slammed into a convoy of vehicles in a remote part of Yemen, killing three alleged militants. The attack – like all other US drone strikes outside warzones – was supposed to be clandestine. Yet

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