Al-Qaeda trying to fight against US drone strikes, secret report reveals

Al-Qaeda's leadership is trying to find out ways to fight against US drone strikes, a new report has revealed.

The terrorist organization has assigned cells of engineers to find ways to shoot down, jam or remotely hijack U.S. drones.

Through the method Qaeda is hoping to exploit the technological vulnerabilities of a weapons system that has inflicted huge losses against the terrorist network, according to top-secret U.S. intelligence documents.

The document shows that although there is no evidence that al-Qaeda has successfully interfered with flight operations, U.S. intelligence officials have closely tracked the group's efforts to develop a counter drone strategy since 2010.

According to the Washington Post, al-Qaeda commanders are hoping a technological breakthrough can curb the U.S. drone campaign, which has killed an estimated 3,000 people over the past decade.

The air strikes have forced -al-Qaeda operatives and other militants to take extreme measures to limit their movements in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and other places.

The report said that the details of al-Qaeda's attempts to fight back against the drone campaign are contained in a classified intelligence report provided by Edward Snowden, the fugitive former National Security Agency contractor.

The top-secret report, titled "Threats to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles," is a summary of dozens of intelligence assessments posted by U.S. spy agencies since 2006.

The report said that the U.S. spy agencies have concluded that al-Qaeda is facing substantial challenges in devising an effective way to attack drones.

According to the report, al-Qaeda leaders have become increasingly open about their anti-drone efforts.

In March, a new English-language online jihadist magazine called Azan published a story titled "The Drone Chain."

The article derided drone armaments as "evil missiles designed by the devils of the world".

The report advised referring to lethal UAV operations.

It also suggested "elevating the conversation" to more-abstract issues, such as the "Inherent Right of Self-Defense" and "Pre-emptive and Preventive Military Action," the report added.