'Obama admin to hand over some CIA drone operations to Pentagon'

US President Barack Obama's administration has decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations against terrorism suspects overseas that are currently run by the CIA, according to several US government sources.

Obama has pledged more transparency on controversial counterterrorism programs, and giving the Pentagon the responsibility for part of the drone program could open it to greater congressional oversight, reports The News.

According to US government sources, drone strikes in Yemen, where the US military already conducts operations with Yemeni forces, would be run by the armed forces.

But for the time-being US drone strikes in Pakistan would continue to be conducted by the CIA to keep the program covert, they added.

Ultimately, however, the administration's goal would be to transfer the Pakistan drone operations to the military, one US official said.

Following a series of scandals about civil liberties and allegations of government overreach that broke last week, Obama is under great pressure to show that his administration is transparent.