White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, ‘there are no U.S. military bases in Ethiopia’.

Mr. Carney made the remark about two hours ago in a briefing to journalists.

He added, ‘the United States has unarmed reconnaissance aircraft at a facility in Ethiopia as part of our partnership with the government of Ethiopia to promote stability in the Horn of Africa. The UAVs are not conducting any strike missions from Ethiopia’.

Here is a copy of the statement from the official website of the White House.

Q    Thanks, Jay.  The Washington Post reported the U.S. has a new drone base operational in Ethiopia.  Do you have a comment on that?

MR. CARNEY:  I think I do — I think I have something I can say about that report.  The United States has unarmed reconnaissance aircraft at a facility in Ethiopia as part of our partnership with the government of Ethiopia to promote stability in the Horn of Africa.  The UAVs are not conducting any strike missions from Ethiopia.  There are no U.S. military bases in Ethiopia.  We are engaged in a broad, sustained and integrated campaign to counter terrorism.  We are harnessing every tool of American power — military, civilian, and diplomatic.  The United States is strengthening its intelligence, military and security capabilities and drawing from a full range of law enforcement tools in coordination with partners around the globe.

That’s what I have to say on that.

It is to be recalled that the Washington Post reported earlier today that US has a drone base in southern Ethiopia and it has become operational. Read: US Air force confirms deploying drones in Ethiopia

Reconnaissance, aka scouting, is a military term that reffers to exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment.

Reconnaissance aircrafts (also known as drones or unmanned air vehicle – UAV) perform important military functions such as observing tangible structures, particular areas, and movement of enemy forces.

The Reaper drone, which is deployed in Ethiopia, is described by the US Air force website as follows:

The MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-to-high altitude, long endurance unmanned aircraft system. The Reaper’s primary missions are close air support, air interdiction, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR. It acts as a Joint Forces Air Component Commander-owned theater asset for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of the Joint Forces Commander.

The cameras of Reaper drone are capable of identifying an object the size of a milk carton from altitudes of 60,000 feet, according to one researcher.