Killer US drones pursuing pirates off the Horn

The potential use of drones in Somalia raises concerns that the Obama administration may proceed with less surgical precision in future raids.

In addition, the introduction of Reapers further augments the firepower that the United States has been using in East Africa during the past year.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in Nairobi in August that the US is determined to expand its military assistance to the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.

There are calls for Washington to supply 80 tonnes of weapons and ammunition to the TFG on top of the 40 tonnes delivered this year.

The Predator drones used in Pakistan are directed by personnel half a world away at CIA headquarters near Washington, according to a report in a recent edition of The New Yorker magazine.

And aspects of the Predator programme are handled by private military contractors.

The magazine says employees of Xe Services, a controversial military contracting firm formerly known as Blackwater, maintain and load the Hellfire missiles on the drones used in Pakistan.