- The U.S. looks set to scrap drone strike safeguards introduced by the Obama administration.
- Drones will now target low-level terror suspects along with high profile jihadists.
- The rollback will also mean that high vetting is no longer required to carry out strikes
- The move has been criticized by human rights groups in the wake of mounting civilian deaths
Key safety limits surrounding drone strikes look set to be scrapped under current President Donald Trump, according to officials.
Two rules are set to be relaxed following the changes, which will allow the U.S. to target more people on foreign soil.
Currently, the U.S. targets only high-profile militants who pose “continuing and imminent threat” to Americans.
However, the relaxed rules would allow U.S. drones to kill minor suspects with no special skills or leadership roles.
The changes would also mean that proposed drone attacks and raids would no longer undergo high-level vetting.
The policy is likely to mean more frequent and broader operations in countries such as Yemen, Somalia and Libya.
Reports claim that it will also make it easier for the U.S. to expand operations to any area where jihadists operate, even during times of sporadic warfare.
The news comes after President Trump told officials last month that his administration plans to target terrorism across the globe.
“The killers need to know they have nowhere to hide, that no place is beyond the reach of American might and American arms,” he said. “Retribution will be fast and powerful,” he said.
However, Washington is set to keep in place a requirement of “near certainty” that no civilians will be killed.
The Obama administration left up to 117 civilians dead in drone strikes and other counter-terror actions, a U.S. intelligence report.
The Jan. 2017 release by National Intelligence Director James Clapper said that U.S. strikes killed between 2,803 and 3,022 combatants during the eight-year presidency.
Airwars, an independent watchdog group, recently reported that coalition airstrikes have killed around 5,000 civilians in Syria and Iraq.
The proposed laws have already drawn criticism from human rights groups.
Zeke Johnson, senior director of programs for Amnesty International USA, told The New York Times: “The Obama administration’s policy guidance on the use of lethal force was a positive step but fell far short on human rights protections,” he said. “Any decision to weaken those standards would be a grave mistake.”
