US to expand Pakistan drone strikes

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been granted approval by the US government to expand drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions in a move to step up military operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, officials have said. Federal lawyers backed the measures on grounds of self-defense to counter threats the fighters pose to US troops in neighboring Afghanistan and the United States as a whole, according to authorities. The US announced on Wednesday that targets will now include low-level combatants, even if their identities are not known. Barack Obama, the US president, had previously said drone strikes were necessary to "take out high-level terrorist targets". "Targets are chosen with extreme care, factoring in concepts like necessity, proportionality, and an absolute obligation to minimize loss of innocent life and property damage," a US counterterrorism official said.