Jun

2012

5:05am, EDT

Report: US expands secret 'shadow war' in Africa

By msnbc.com staff

The U.S. military is using small spy aircraft disguised as private planes as it expands secret intelligence operations across Africa, The Washington Post reported late Wednesday.

The surveillance missions are part of a "growing shadow war against al-Qaida affiliates and other militant groups," the newspaper said.

Citing a former U.S. commander, the Post said about dozen air bases have been set up for the unarmed spy planes in Africa since 2007. The newspaper said they include sites in Burkina Faso, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya as well as in the Seychelles.

The report added:

"The surveillance is overseen by U.S. Special Operations forces but relies heavily on private military contractors and support from African troops.

The surveillance underscores how Special Operations forces, which have played an outsize role in the Obama administration’s national security strategy, are working clandestinely all over the globe, not just in war zones. The lightly equipped commando units train foreign security forces and perform aid missions, but they also include teams dedicated to tracking and killing terrorism suspects."

The Post said that the U.S. Africa Command declined to comment on "specific operational details."

However, the command confirmed that it worked "closely with our African partners ... to conduct missions or operations that support and further our mutual security goals."

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

May

2012

2:24am, EDT

Report: Secret US program releases Afghan insurgents in exchange for peace pledges

By Reuters

WASHINGTON -- The United States has been secretly releasing detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, the Washington Post reported in its Monday editions.

The "strategic release" program has allowed American officials over the past several years to use prisoners as bargaining chips to reduce violence in restive provinces, it said, citing U.S. officials who it said spoke on condition of anonymity.

Al-Qaida releases video of American hostage

The freed detainees are often fighters who would not be released under the legal system for military prisoners in Afghanistan. They must promise to give up violence, the report said.

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Rahmat Gul / AP

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

Officials would not say whether those who have been released have later returned to attack U.S. and Afghan troops, the Post said.

Releases have come amid efforts to end the war through negotiation, which is central to the Obama administration's strategy for exiting Afghanistan, the report said.

US offers 'safe passage' to Afghan Taliban leaders

Those efforts have yielded little to no progress in recent years. In part, they have been stymied by the unwillingness of the United States to release five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay — a gesture insurgent leaders have said they see as a precondition for peace talks, the report said.

Unlike at Guantanamo, releasing prisoners from the Parwan detention center does not require congressional approval and can be done secretly, the Post said.

After chaotic start, long fight predicted in Gitmo 9/11 case

The program's goal is to quell violence in areas where NATO is unable to ensure security. Releases are intended to produce tactical gains, the Post said.

On the one-year anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and said his goal "to defeat al-Qaida and deny it a chance to rebuild is now within our reach." NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

'Outside of normal protocol'
U.S. officials would not say how many detainees have been released under the program, though they said such cases are relatively rare. The program has existed for several years.

"The Afghans have come to us with information that might strengthen the reconciliation process," the newspaper quoted U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker as saying. "Many times we do act on it."

Releases through the secret program from Parwan must be approved by the top U.S. military commander and military lawyer, and are the only exceptions to the prison's judicial review board, the Post said.

The strategic partnership forged between the U.S. and Afghanistan commits a war-weary American public to at least another 12 years in the country. Tony Blinken, national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, discusses.

It quoted one official as saying the procedure was "outside of our normal protocol," the paper said.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world