Leader killed in blind attack

Nasir al-Wuhayshi. Photo / AP

CIA did not know Yemen al-Qaeda’s top man would be among those hit in drone attack.

The CIA did not know in advance that al-Qaeda's leader in Yemen was among the suspected militants targeted in a lethal drone strike last week, according to United States officials who said that the operation went forward under counterterrorism guidelines eased by the Obama Administration after the collapse of the US-backed Government in Yemen this year.

The officials said Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who also served as al-Qaeda's overall second-in-command, was killed in a "signature strike", in which the CIA is permitted to fire based on patterns of suspected militant activity even if the agency does not know the identities of those who could be killed.

The disclosure indicates that the CIA continues to employ a controversial targeting method that the Administration had previously signalled it intended to phase out, particularly in Yemen, which US officials have said is subjected to more stringent rules on the use of lethal force than in Pakistan.

The reliance on signature strikes would help explain an increase in the pace of drone operations in Yemen over the past six months.

The CIA and the US Joint Special Operations Command have carried out at least 12 strikes in Yemen since January, a number approaching the total for last year, according to data put together by the New America Foundation.

Human rights groups have been sharply critical of the use of signature strikes. Jameel Jaffer, a senior lawyer at the ACLU involved in lawsuits aimed at forcing the Administration to disclose details of its counterterrorism policies, said that the use of such strikes would cast significant doubt on the Administration's assertions about restraints imposed on the use of lethal force.

"If the Government is carrying out signature strikes in Yemen, the Administration needs to explain whether, to what extent, and on which agencies these restraints have actually been imposed," Jaffer said. "So many of the Government's assertions about its policies have turned out to be incomplete, misleading, or even false."

- Bloomberg