CIA reportedly expanding its drone program in Africa

The details: The CIA has had limited missions in eastern Afghanistan for strikes in Pakistan and in southern Saudi Arabia for attacks in Yemen, per the Times. Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo changed the agency's drone policy last year, citing a need for more counterterrorism efforts. Under the expansion, a new air base has been carved out at a small commercial airport in Niger to target Islamist militants in southern Libya.

• An American official told the Times that the CIA hasn’t launched lethal drone missions from Niger yet, though it's likely to do so in the near future.
• However, a Nigerien security official told the Times he had concluded that the CIA carried out an armed drone strike in July from the base. Maj. Karl Wiest, a spokesperson for Africa Command, denied that claim to the Times.